Secrets of the Dead
by Mediterranean May
Summary: AU. RLSB slash. When Sirius moves to a new town, to live in an old manor, he makes new friends and develops a crush on a boy at school, Remus, but his life takes a dark turn when a spirit inside the manor begins to haunt him.
1. Welcome To Wellington

Disclaimer: Now really, would I be writing on a fan fiction site if I owned it?

Author's Note: Okay, I've been sitting on this idea for quite some time, so figured I should just write it. I love AU stories so I'm really excited about this. Some warnings: This is RLSB slash and it's a ghost story of sorts, so if you get scared easily or just think ghost stories are corny, don't read it.

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Sirius didn't know how much longer he could stay in this infernal car. They had been driving for what seemed to him to be an eternity. The most eventful thing that had happened was his father almost hitting a raccoon making his mother shriek, but besides this, the monotony of it all made Sirius want to shriek himself. It's funny, with nothing to do, the most trivial annoyances seemed to keep boiling his blood beneath his skin, making him in danger of exploding. His brother, Regulus, had his ipod turned up much too loud, the low shriek of metal music buzzing in Sirius' ears, and occasionally cracking his gum. His mother drumming her manicured nails on her armrest, looking out haughtily at the scenery. And as for his father, well, he was only animated when he was drunk, and then he was only verbally abusive. Sirius hated his family; they didn't give a good goddamn about anyone but themselves.

His brother was a spoiled brat who sucked up to his parents to get what he wanted (the ipod for instance), his mother was anything but maternal but could shop like the apocalypse was nigh, and his father was interested in nothing more than money and his career. This was perhaps why Sirius found it so odd that his father had decided to abandon his law firm in Boston for a more rural area of Massachusetts, but his father said they needed lawyers for an energy project, and were willing to pay big bucks for them. After this explanation, Sirius did not find his father's decision odd whatsoever.

Sirius had loved his family once. After all, they were all he had. But over the years, Sirius began to realize who these people actually were, and when he did, they became like strangers. They were all strangers to each other, really.

When Sirius' father, Orion Black, had graduated from Harvard Law School, his parents had more or less set up an arranged marriage with his mother, Rose Smeltings. The Smeltings, like the Blacks, were very old, very rich Massachusetts families. They couldn't let their children marry commoners! So Orion and Rose were married, and from what Sirius could tell, it was not a happy marriage at all. He doubted, in fact, that his parents had had sex for any other purpose than for children, and was aware of their many affairs. When he was young, he had accidentally run in on his mother with his violin teacher. Needless to say, he had quit violin that very same day. He had never caught his father with anyone, though when he came home at night, Sirius could smell a faint flowery scent radiating from his person, a perfume that did not belong to Mrs. Black. His brother seemed to be blissfully unaware, however, of their parents' affairs. This could be due simply to his lack of caring about anyone but himself, or his being consumed in violent video games, or his one pack a day and the pot that he smoked with his friends on the weekends, or perhaps, a combination of all three. In addition to this, Regulus idolized his father, and aspired to be every bit as corrupt, uncaring, and filthy rich as him. Sirius wouldn't be surprised one bit if Regulus got a bigger inheritance than him; Orion made it no secret that Regulus was the better son.

The rest of Sirius' relatives were equally, if not more, superficial. If he had thought his parents were cold, they were nothing compared to his grandparents. When he visited his grandparents in the Hamptons during holidays and vacations, they fussed almost lovingly over Regulus, while scoffing at Sirius. "Giving your parents more trouble with that tongue of yours boy?! If you want your inheritance, you had better stop with these radical ideas and find more suitable friends!" his grandmother said to him almost every time. Sirius was quite sure if Regulus dressed and acted the way he normally did, his grandparents wouldn't be any happier with him than they were with Sirius. Regulus, though mediocre at best when it came to academics, was cunning in the ways of society, and knew just how to act around upper class adults. The conniving little prick.

When around people like that, Sirius felt trapped in his own skin. He always felt afraid that his prim and proper façade would crack and his true self would seep out from its ruins, his soul in all its naked glory on a pedestal, judgmental and objectifying eyes burning his flesh. He knew this fear was irrational, as he put on a very good show of being snooty at business parties and family affairs, but he couldn't quite put it to the back of his mind. It was always threatening to ruin him with the slightest slip-up.

When in the company of these people, Sirius had to hide half of his personality. Though he liked all of these things equally, he listened to classical music over rock music, wore khakis instead of jeans, button-downs instead of t-shirts, and a sports coat instead of his favorite leather jacket. This Sirius didn't mind so much. But when forced to be in the company of Clarissa Worthington, whom his parents had been planning for Sirius to marry since he was in diapers, he wanted to scream after the first two minutes.

Clarissa, like Regulus, was very proper around high-class people, but a downright bitch when you got to know her. She was a neo-conservative (though a highly hypocritical one), prejudiced against anyone different from herself, and thought she owned the world because daddy was a CEO. But the worst part by far was that every time they were together, Clarissa attempted to seduce him and offered up her virginity (though he highly doubted she was still in possession of that). She even went so far as to blatantly ask if he wanted to bang her, though after a minute of her tongue in his ear, all Sirius wanted to bang was his head against the wall. It definitely didn't help that he was not at all attracted to women. Yes, Sirius Black was a homosexual.

All of his other so-called flaws seemed to pale in comparison to this one. It was, perhaps, the primary source of all his self-consciousness around his parents' family and friends. He had tried so hard his entire life to change his orientation, but it was all in vain. No matter how hard he tried, he was still gayer than Elton John in a pink dress. Though it had taken most of his life, Sirius had finally come to terms with who he was. His junior year of high school, he had even acquired a secret boyfriend, Joe, but they decided they were better off friends as they didn't seem to have much romantic chemistry. Sirius was quite sad when he had to leave Joe and all his other friends behind in Boston to come to this stupid little town where he knew no one. Speaking of which…

"We're here," his father grumbled from the front seat. Sure enough, Sirius looked out his window just in time to catch a glimpse of a sign that said **_Welcome to Wellington_** in big bold letters. After a few more miles, they pulled up to a large wrought-iron gate. When his father got out to open it, Sirius felt his jaw drop. The house, or rather manor, was enormous. It was formidable, yet beautiful, perched atop a gentle sloping green hill, forest surrounding it, a big red barn barely visible behind it. Admiring it, Sirius wondered if the move might not be so bad after all.

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Author's Note: I truly have no idea if there really is a town called Wellington in MA, I just made it up. If I didn't cover something, or you have a question, I will be more than happy to clear things up. Sorry there wasn't more story in this chapter, I mostly just wanted to cover the background info for now, so there was less to go over when the plot progresses. I promise it will get more exciting. Thanks for reading, and please, please, please review! They make my day!


	2. Ghosts?

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

Author's Note: Thanks again to all of you lovely, lovely people who reviewed! In this chapter, you'll learn the secret of the house. Read on!

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After the car was parked in the drive and Sirius got out, he craned his neck to take in the whole of the manor's façade. It was made of dark stone, vines snaking up the sides in a few places, some of the windows darkened with drapes, others staring out like blank eye sockets. Then, Sirius did a double take to one of the second floor windows. He could have sworn he had seen a face through the glass, but when his eyes returned to the site, there was nothing there. Sirius dismissed it as a glare from the blinding afternoon sun.

He made his way to the trunk of the car to retrieve his suitcase; the moving van would arrive tomorrow with the rest of their belongings. He pulled it out and followed Regulus and his parents through the double dark-wood doors that opened through to a grand entrance hall. The floor was a shining white marble and an elegant crystal chandelier hung from an impossibly high ceiling. Two sweeping staircases, each leading to separate second floor wings, on opposite ends of the hall cascaded down to meet and merge into one near the bottom. Their brownstone in Boston had been gorgeous, yes, but it was definitely not on the same scale as the manor.

Sirius was shaken from his reverie by his mother's voice, "The second floor wing on the right hand side belongs to your father and I, you boys can squabble about who gets the other second floor wing and who gets the one on the ground floor."

"Well, Reg, I don't care, so pick which one you want," said Sirius dismissively. He just wanted to get to his new room and take a nap.

"I'll take ground," said Regulus. No doubt because of the fact that it was easier to sneak girls in and smoke without his parents' noticing. Sirius stood in the entryway a few moments longer, watching his brother retreat through a set of doors on the right and his parents walk up the stairs and disappear around the corner, before climbing the stairs himself and making his way to his room.

Sirius came to a stop at the end of the hall, where there was a set of large dark-wood double doors. He pushed them open to reveal his new bedroom. It was very spacious with high ceilings and a dark-wood floor. To his surprise, the room was fully furnished, complete with all dark-wood chairs, an armoire, a desk, and a stunning, intricately carved four-post bed with dusty hangings and bed sheets. It was one of the most old-fashioned rooms he had ever seen and he loved it.

He crossed to the window and opened it, the light, warm breeze playing with the yellowed curtains. He turned on the light and gazed around the room again, taking it all in. It was beautiful, but needed some work. But Sirius didn't mind this; without friends to hang out with, he needed something to fill this void. That peeling wallpaper would definitely be the first to go, along with the curtains and bed hangings. He would not be sleeping in that bed until all the dusty cloth and the mattress were replaced with dust-free counterparts, so as not to have a sneezing fit. It looked as though he'd be sleeping on the floor at least for tonight.

He left his room and took a peek in two other rooms down the hall. The first was completely bare save a few racks; this was most likely a closet. Good thing it was big because Sirius had a LOT of clothes. The other was a bathroom, complete with all the bathroom necessities. It was possibly one of the oldest looking bathrooms he had ever seen; it contained a claw-foot tub with a showerhead hanging directly overhead. It was very rusty; he'd need a new one. The mirror was extremely cracked, mostly in the center as though someone had struck it. Suddenly, Sirius felt the prickling of hair on his neck as the sensation that he was being watched came over him. He shook it off and proceeded down the hall. Next, he came upon another empty room, and across from it, a door that would not open. He shook the handle several times, but it still wouldn't budge. He thought vaguely of asking his father for the set of keys later.

For some reason, Sirius didn't feel so inclined towards a nap at the moment. He felt a sudden pressing need to get out of the house and out into open air. Perhaps he would walk into town; it was only 1:30 and town was just a mere mile up the road. He could tour the rest of the house later. He returned to his room and dug in his suitcase for fresh clothes. He undressed to his underwear and caught his reflection in the full-length mirror in front of him.

There were no discrepancies that Sirius was _very_ attractive; he had longish, silky, black hair, silvery gray eyes, high, aristocratic cheekbones, and a straight nose. His body was well toned from weight lifting and running and he carried himself with a dignified posture. It was for these reasons that Sirius received a lot of unwanted female attention. Well, to be fair, he'd caught some guys staring too, and that was definitely an upside. Too bad he could never act on it. Life was so unfair.

Sirius dressed, bolted down the stairs, threw open the doors, and stepped into the warm sunlight. He took a deep breath and started walking down the drive. After about a mile's walk, he arrived in town. It seemed so incomprehensively small compared to Boston, but it was a nice change. The town was very quaint, a stereotypical New England small town. Probably due to the fact that it was a sunny, Friday afternoon, the collective mood of the people on the street seemed almost overtly cheerful.

Sirius then spotted a hardware store and was reminded that he needed a showerhead. After purchasing it, he stepped outside again. As he did, a group of three teenage boys and a girl passed by, talking animatedly to each other and paying him no notice. The girl was very pretty, with long, dark red hair and shocking, emerald eyes. A boy with a mop of messy black hair and hazel eyes behind round glasses had his arm around her shoulder. Another boy, who was slightly pudgy with blonde hair and watery blue eyes, was laughing at something the black-haired boy had said. And then there was the last boy. He was shockingly beautiful, but in a very masculine way, with light brown hair that flashed gold in the sun and the most stunning golden amber eyes that Sirius had ever seen. He was not engaged in the conversation like the others and the look on his face suggested that his mind was far away; the expression was enticing to Sirius and he felt the urge to know what the boy was thinking.

As quickly as the group had come, they had gone, not glancing at him once. They were all wearing backpacks; they were most likely on their way home from school, and Sirius wondered if he might see them there on Monday. He would definitely make a point of introducing himself to the amber-eyed boy. It was in Sirius' nature to be friendly and outgoing, and after all, he had been one of the most popular guys at his old school, so he was looking forward to meeting some new people come Monday. As he watched the group's retreating forms, he felt a sudden pang for his friends. He had never felt so alone in his life.

He then noticed that he had been standing stationary on the sidewalk for quite some time, so he started up the street again. He wondered if he should just go home, but it seemed foolish to walk all the way to town for a stupid showerhead. He spotted a small café and decided to get some coffee.

He walked in and found a small table near the window. As he sat down, a waitress sidled over to him. She looked to be in her mid-forties, but was quite attractive nevertheless. She had curly red hair, sparkly blue eyes, and a smiling, good-natured face.

"Hi, my name is Rosmerta, what can I get for you today?" she recited with a smile. "I suggest an iced coffee, the weather's much to warm for hot."

"Um, I'll take that then, thanks," said Sirius.

Rosmerta returned a few moments later with the coffee and laid it on the table; Sirius thanked her.

"Oh, it's my pleasure, honey!" she exclaimed. "It's so nice to see manners in a boy your age, that's such a rare quality nowadays!" Sirius smiled at her and she continued, "And you're quite a handsome one too, if you don't mind me saying, I bet the girls just love you!" Sirius blushed slightly at the last comment. "You don't look very familiar though, are you visiting?"

"Uh, no, actually my family and I just moved in to the manor house about a mile up the road," said Sirius.

"Oh right, I heard that someone finally bought the old Wellington place. It's beautiful isn't it?" said Rosmerta. "At least the outside is, I don't know about inside. No one's lived there for two years, I imagine there must be a few cobwebs!" She had a nice laugh; Sirius could feel himself warming up to her more and more.

"It's pretty dusty, yeah," said Sirius, "but my mom's hired a few day maids and they start tomorrow, so hopefully I'll quit sneezing soon."

Rosmerta laughed that laugh of hers again and said, "Do you mind if sit down?" Sirius shook his head no, he didn't mind. As she sat she said, "I can take a break. After all, I am the boss."

"This is your place?" inquired Sirius.

"Well, it was my mom's, but it went to me after she died, so my husband and I own it now. Best things like this stay in the family," she said.

Something Rosmerta had said before came floating suddenly back to him. "Before, you called it the Wellington Manor. I didn't know it had the same name as this town," said Sirius.

"Well, back in the 1800's," said Rosmerta, "a family by the name of Wellington settled out here with a few others. The Wellingtons were a very rich family; I think they came from old money in addition to the cash that Nathaniel Wellington made off his business deals with different trading companies. Anyway, Wellington started building the manor while more people came to live in the area. He founded this town and was recognized as its chief citizen, so the town was named after him." Sirius had always loved history and found this particular anecdote quite intriguing. She continued, "Actually, I could tell you quite a story about that place, but I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"Well, now that you've said that, you can't back out of telling me now!" said Sirius indignantly. She looked hesitant, but he egged her on until she caved in.

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you. But first I have to ask," she hesitated, "do you believe in ghosts?"

Sirius didn't quite know what to say to this. Ghosts? The manor had ghosts? Not that he was scared of ghosts, or even truly believed in them for that matter, but he decided to go along with her anyway. "I don't know, I've never actually seen one."

"I really shouldn't tell you this, but the story's so famous in this town that you'd find out anyway, especially since you live in the manor," said Rosmerta. "Well, Nathaniel Wellington had a son, named David. It was common knowledge that they never got along; Nathaniel never thought that David was good enough. It really didn't help matters that Nathaniel was a devout Protestant and thought anyone who didn't believe in the same things as he did was going straight to hell. And this is where the story gets foggy, because no one knows for sure. It was common knowledge around town that David was supposed to be married to the daughter of one of Nathaniel's rich business associates, but David was widely believed to have been in love with one of their servants, Rebecca Smith, and was even thought to have been sleeping with her as well. That was just the last straw for Nathaniel. Someone of his stature would suffer great shame from the fact that his son was fornicating with a servant. Rebecca and her brother lived in a small cabin near the barn, and one morning when she and her brother didn't show up to do the chores, another servant went to their cabin to find them. He went inside to find Rebecca and her brother both shot dead in their beds. Most think Nathaniel did it, but there was never any proof for his arrest. When the news reached David he was beyond distraught. Three days later, they found him dead as well, but this was a suicide. Hung himself from the rafters in Rebecca's cabin. They never found a suicide note; some even think that David had identified his father as Rebecca's murderer, and Nathaniel had stolen it to hide his guilt. Well, after that, there's been all these supposed sighting's of David's ghost haunting the manor, mourning his lost love Rebecca. It's a terribly tragic story, but I wouldn't fret over ghosts; I mean, I hardly believe in them myself."

If Sirius had been speechless before, it was nothing compared to how he felt now. Sirius insisted he was fine as he made an excuse to leave, thanked Rosmerta for the coffee, paid, and left, but his mind painfully reminded him of the face he thought he had seen from the window and how he had felt as though he was being watched. Could the house really be haunted? Sirius scolded himself for being scared of a dumb story; after all, what old house hadn't seen any deaths? Nevertheless, he decided to sleep in the car tonight.

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Author's Note: Well, hope y'all enjoyed chapter 2! Sirius will officially meet Remus next chapter, just so you know I haven't forgotten about him! Review please, and constructive criticism is always welcome.


	3. Hogwarts High

Disclaimer: Still not mine, though I really wish it were.

Author's Note: Dun dun dun! Now the moment you've all been waiting for…Sirius finally meets Remus! I have a feeling that if I'd waited another chapter to bring in Remus, you would all get a trifle frustrated with me. And since I've gotten spoiled with your nice reviews, I really didn't want to give you lovely people reason to give me not so nice reviews. Just kidding, I know you're all more patient than that! Well, now I'm just wasting your valuable time, so on with the tale!

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Though the manor's history had indeed unsettled Sirius, he did his best to put it from his mind. The next day, Sirius even got up the nerve to tour the rest of the house. Yes, it needed work, but it really was stunning; he could only imagine its elegance when it was in its prime. It was apparent that whoever had lived here last had not bothered to keep up with the housework or the times. There was a rather large library, stacked with outdated volumes that undoubtedly belonged to the previous owner. If the manor had stayed within the same family all these years, as many of these houses did, he realized with a chill that some of these books must have belonged to Nathaniel or David Wellington. The kitchen was big, but needed some updating; he doubted if that stove had been used in 20 years. The dining room was a long rectangular room with a long rectangular table to match; a dusty chandelier hung from the ceiling. While Sirius wandered out of the dining room, he stumbled upon a room of epic proportions; a ballroom so large it could fit a small house comfortably. This room contained the biggest chandelier of the whole house, a black grand piano, and a series of mirrors lining the walls. It also had four sets of French doors (with missing panes of glass) that opened out into what had undoubtedly once been a beautifully manicured French garden; there was even a decent sized fountain, though it no longer held water. There were so many rooms, that Sirius nearly got lost trying to find his way back to the entrance hall.

After the moving van came, he got a lot of work done on his wing of the second floor. He took down the yellowed curtains, disposed of the dusty bed cloths, trashed the mattress, peeled the wallpaper, put his clothes in the walk-in closet, put a new mirror in the bathroom, and of course, replaced the shower head. Once he had completed these things by Sunday night, he plunked himself on his newly made bed.

It had occurred to him earlier that this had most likely been David Wellington's room. He deduced this mainly because, while the rest of the house was only outdated by about 20 years, this wing seemed outdated by at least a century, perhaps more. It didn't seem odd to Sirius that his family may have left his room unoccupied after he died out of respect. Or perhaps it seemed untouched, the thought making Sirius' stomach clench, because his ghost haunted it and no one wanted to come near it. He chided himself yet again for dwelling on Rosmerta's tale. He didn't even believe in ghosts. He didn't. Really. Sirius turned over and fell into an uneasy sleep.

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Sirius awoke to the buzzing of his alarm clock. He opened his eyes and blearily read the neon green 6:30. He wanted nothing more than to sleep five more minutes, but he couldn't risk being late to school his first day. Besides, he was supposed to be there twenty minutes before class started anyway so one of the students could give him a tour of the school. He dragged himself out of bed, showered quickly, threw on some clothes, and made his way into the kitchen. Agnes, a plump woman of about sixty, with white hair, a flushed face, and twinkling eyes whom his mother had hired as a maid and a cook, was waiting in the kitchen to serve breakfast to Sirius and Regulus. They said their good mornings and Sirius sat down to his scrambled eggs, when Regulus walked in. He was dressed in baggy, black pants and some metal band t-shirt and looked utterly depressing.

"Going to a funeral?" asked Sirius lightly. Regulus merely sneered at him and started eating. "I see you borrowed mom's eyeliner again, she won't be happy when I tell her," said Sirius.

"Actually, its mine, ass-wipe," replied Regulus.

"Even worse. I thought you'd grown out of that Goth emo stage by now, that look is so last year."

"Better to have this look than wear you're faggy clothes."

The word 'faggy' had touched a nerve in Sirius, who was about to give a scathing retort, but was interrupted by Agnes who said, "That's enough boys! Now go on, you'll be late for school."

Sirius got up, Regulus following suit, and they walked to the garage. They got in Sirius' car, a sporty, black convertible he had received as a sixteenth birthday present from his parents, and took off down the road. Though he had had the car for over a year now, Regulus was still very jealous of Sirius for having it, but Sirius knew that when Regulus turned sixteen in December, he was bound to get a nicer, more expensive one.

They arrived at the school in less than five minutes and found a parking place close to the building. Some of the other early arrivals looked on in awe at Sirius' car, which was by far the nicest in the parking lot. Hogwarts High was a decent size, two floors, and had a type of gothic style architecture. Sirius and Regulus went inside and found the office close to the entrance. They walked in and were greeted by a kind-faced woman at the front desk.

"Hi, I'm Sirius Black and this is my brother Regulus. I was told to get here early for a tour," said Sirius.

"Ah yes, Mr. Black. It's so nice to meet you! I'm Mrs. Sinclair," said the secretary. "Your brother Regulus will be given a tour by his fellow sophomore Rabastan Lestrange," she indicated an unpleasant looking boy who was dressed not unlike Regulus. Well, Sirius knew they'd get along very well.

"And you, Mr. Black, will be guided by your fellow senior Remus Lupin."

Sirius saw she was gesturing to none other than the handsome amber-eyed boy that he had seen in town. Now that Sirius had a good look at him, he thought him even more attractive than before. Remus smiled at him, extending his hand. "It's nice to meet you." His voice was music to Sirius' ears, and he could feel himself swooning.

"It's nice to meet you too. I'm Sirius," said Sirius, taking Remus' proffered hand. They kept the physical contact longer than was completely necessary. Sirius was sure he was going into cardiac arrest. When they let go, Mrs. Sinclair handed Sirius his schedule. They walked out of the office and Remus looked at Sirius' schedule.

"Oh good, we have AP American History, AP English, AP French, and AP Calculus together. Actually, I think you're the only other person besides my friends and I that's got that many AP classes. But I heard you went to one of those prestigious private schools back in Boston, so you've had a top of the line education. I hope you don't mind me saying, but I'm totally jealous," said Remus amiably. Sirius was floored.

"How do you know that?!" asked Sirius incredulously.

"It's a small town; word travels fast," shrugged Remus.

Sirius mentally scrambled to find an interesting reply, but nothing came to mind. Normally, he always had a witty remark at hand to use with anybody, but there was something about this boy that made him want to tell his soul's darkest secrets. Well, there was nothing wrong with being honest, right? He could already tell that Remus was an easy person to talk to and there was no call to impress.

"You really shouldn't be jealous. Everyone that went to my old school, save a few, were stuck-up snobs who thought they were better than everyone else. I hate people like that, they're so superficial," said Sirius.

"And you're not a stuck-up snob?" inquired Remus.

"I don't consider myself to be. What, do I come off that way?" asked Sirius.

"No, you don't. At all, actually. I'm just messing with you," said Remus, mirth dancing in his eyes. Was Remus _flirting_ with him? No, that would be too good to be true. Thankfully, Remus spared him a reply when he said, "Well, obviously this is the gym. Really, I don't much see the point in giving tours myself, it's like we're in elementary school or something. Besides, that manor you live in is twice the size of this, and if you're able to find your way around _that_ without room numbers over every door…"

Sirius laughed. He was growing fonder of Remus by the minute. They walked along to all of Sirius' classes, Remus pointing out places such as the swimming pool and the auditorium. Remus was telling him about some of the teachers when a group of boys walked by. One of them, a sallow-faced boy with shoulder-length, greasy black hair and dark eyes called out, "Hey Lupin, is that your new queer lover?"

"Go screw yourself, Snape," said Remus nonchalantly.

"Sorry, Lupin, but I don't feel much like doing that at the moment. I'll bet you do, though," said Snape. Remus' face appeared calm, but his hands, which were curled into fists, gave him away.

"I may be gay, but I still wouldn't want to screw you if you were the last man on Earth. I'd like to keep your excess bodily oils off of me, thanks," replied Remus scathingly. Sirius was cheering silently in his head. Snape stepped forward, looking daggers at Remus; he looked like he was about to punch him in the nose. Before Snape could do anything, however, an equally mean looking boy, with white blond hair and pale eyes, grabbed him by the shoulders and held him back.

"Though I'd like to kick Lupin's faggot ass myself, it's not really worth getting suspended for, Severus," he said silkily. He would be quite handsome, but the sneer on his face ruined it. He stepped over to Sirius. "You're from the Black family that just moved here, aren't you?" It wasn't really a question. Sirius held his piercing gaze. "I'm going to warn you right now, Black, that this is the last person you should be hanging around with. Unless, of course, you want to become a filthy queer yourself," he added with a withering glance over at Remus.

"I think I'll risk it," replied Sirius smoothly, though he was shaking slightly with anger. The blond boy sneered at him again and walked away with his friends trailing behind. He looked over at Remus who was staring at the floor.

"Are you really gay?" asked Sirius for the lack of anything better to say.

"Yeah," replied Remus, now looking at the wall. "I understand completely if that bothers you. It seems to bother most people around here anyway."

He looked so dejected; all Sirius wanted to do was give him a big hug. "It doesn't bother me," said Sirius quietly. Remus finally looked up at him. Sirius continued, "Actually, my best friend back in Boston is gay." He decidedly left out the fact that he had engaged in heavy make-out sessions with said best friend.

"Really?" said Remus. This boy was absolutely adorable!

"Yep," said Sirius. He cast around for another topic. "So, who were those assholes anyway?"

"Just like you said, assholes. The one with the greasy everything is Severus Snape, or as my friend James calls him, Snivellus. The blond guy is Lucius Malfoy. His family was the wealthiest around here till you came. The others are Crabbe, Goyle, McNair, and one of the Lestrange brothers. They kind of carry on this little gang called the Death Eaters that this guy Tom Riddle started when he was here. It's quite stupid actually," said Remus, now visibly more comfortable. Just then, the bell rang. "Well, time for AP English."

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If you counted out the incident with Snape and Malfoy, Sirius had a reasonably enjoyable first day of school. Mr. Flitwick, a very tiny man with frizzy white hair, taught his AP English class. The class was presently reading Shakespearian Sonnets, which Sirius had always been fond of. Physics was taught by Mr. Slughorn, a jovial man with a walrus mustache and a potbelly. Sirius didn't know whether to like him or not; he was amiable, but he seemed to suck up to Sirius, probably because he was rich. He even asked Sirius to join the Slug Club, whatever that was. After that, he went to AP Calculus, which was taught by Ms. McGonagall. She looked intimidating and severe, but turned out to be an excellent teacher. He was very much looking forward to taking AP World History, but was sincerely disappointed when he had to fight to stay awake during Binns', a man so old he looked ready to drop dead at any second, lecture on Dutch merchants. AP French was taught by Mrs. Sprout, a small woman with fluffy brown hair. She took an immediate liking to Sirius because of his expert pronunciation. His last class of the day, and by far his favorite, was AP American History, which was taught by Mr. Monroe. He was a reasonably handsome man in his early thirties with light brown hair and hazel eyes; he was new this year but was already favored by most students.

Sirius spent most of the day in Remus' company, which he thoroughly enjoyed. After telling Remus a bit about himself, Sirius learned a bit about Remus as well; he had lived in Wellington his whole life, his parents owned the town bookstore, he lived in a cottage a mile from the manor, and he was on the swim team. The last part delighted Sirius, as he was planning to join the swim team himself and could hardly contain his enthusiasm at the prospect of Remus in a swimsuit. Remus also introduced Sirius to his friends, which turned out to be the same ones that he had seen Remus in town with. The messy, black haired boy was named James, who was very friendly and Sirius liked him instantly. The girl with the red hair and emerald eyes was named Lily; she was James' girlfriend and Sirius could tell he was absolutely crazy about her. Then there was Peter, the pudgy, blond boy, who was a bit shy but seemed nice enough. Sirius knew he would get along with them just fine.

As Sirius drove Regulus and himself home from school that day, his head was filled with thoughts of Remus. When Sirius had learned that Remus was gay, he was ecstatic. But now, it began to sink in that because it was hard to hide anything in a small town, he could never tell Remus how he felt, because he'd be dead if his parents ever found out. Though it pained him, he would have to settle for friendship with the golden-haired boy. He had no way of knowing then how challenging that would prove to be.


	4. Not A Sex Dream

Disclaimer: It ain't mine.

Author's Note: Thanks again to all my reviewers, especially those who've been reading and reviewing since chapter one. This chapter will deal more with the ghost, but I don't think it'll be too scary or anything. Read on!

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The first two weeks that Sirius lived in Wellington had surprisingly turned out to be very enjoyable. His parents were constantly busy; his father with his work, his mother with her shopping, and the both of them with fixing up the manor, so he almost never had to put up with their criticisms.

His parents had big plans for the manor; there were workers there practically all the time now, painting, re-carpeting, designing, fixing the garden, and even putting in a rather large heated swimming pool. His parents were also planning to have the family come to see the house in several weeks. Sirius was most definitely not looking forward to this. It meant his grandparents would be berating him the entire time they were there, his aunts and uncles would talk endlessly about how ethnic minorities, poor people, and most especially those "damn homosexuals" were shaming America, and his cousins, learning to become clones of the adults, would partake in the same activities.

He wouldn't mind family gatherings so much if only the relatives he actually cared for bothered to come; his cousin Andromeda had shamed the family by marrying a plumber, Ted Tonks, and his Uncle Alphard, his father's brother, had shamed the family in countless ways, one of them being opening a motorcycle and tattoo shop with his spare money. Blacks did not engage in barbaric pastimes such as motorcycle riding! Sirius' parents had never found out, however, about the tattoo he had gotten at said shop (a crescent moon and a star on his shoulder blade), and he was not about to tell them. He had also been eyeing the motorcycles, which his Uncle Alphard had been kind enough to teach him to ride.

The one thing he was dreading about this family gathering most, though, was having to spend time with Clarissa Worthington. Sirius shuddered at the very thought of her hand snaking up his thigh, her sickeningly sweet breath in his ear. This would most certainly be an unpleasant affair, but for the time being, Sirius was simply enjoying spending time with his new friends.

James was quickly becoming something of a brother figure to Sirius in a way that Regulus never was. When Sirius was younger, he had often dreamed of having an older brother, and James came shockingly close to that vision. He was always so much fun to be around; they had even pranked the "Death Eaters" a few times, which proved to be quite therapeutic. Remus disapproved of their behavior, claiming to be above such childishness, though Sirius did see a grin flit across his face when he and James attached a piece of paper each to Snivellus' and Lucius' backs, which read respectively: "Lucius Malfoy is an animal in bed" and "Severus Snape's big, greasy nose is my favorite aphrodisiac." Lily also disapproved of their behavior, claiming Sirius to be a bad influence on James, even though James had been doing things like this since kindergarten. Lily, though uptight at times, was a genuinely kind person and very funny and witty when she loosened up a bit. She even let Sirius borrow her notes when he fell asleep in Binns' class, which he thought to be very generous of her. Peter was shy at first when he met Sirius, but he gradually warmed up to him and proved to be a very loyal friend.

Though Sirius had vowed to never get romantically involved with Remus, he was finding this a progressively difficult task. He tried to pay attention in class, but his eyes always wandered over to Remus and he found it very hard to pry his eyes away from his handsome features. He had even caught himself several times leaning much too close to Remus, dangerously close to claiming those soft lips with his own. Once, when he and Remus were studying, he had thought Remus so unbearably sexy chewing on that pen that he had longed to jump him from across the table and have his beastie way with him. To make matters even worse, the swim team had started practice. If he had thought that Remus looked sexy chewing on a pen, it was nowhere near how hot he looked with water cascading down his perfectly toned, half-naked body. He was so hot, in fact, it was a wonder that the water didn't simply evaporate off of him. It seemed that many girls felt this way about Sirius as well. He felt the constant pressure of their hungry eyes on him, and instead of relishing it like most teenage boys would, he only desperately wished that Remus would stare at him like that instead. He was no doubt way in over his head, and it wasn't just being underwater in the pool.

Not only did Sirius lust after Remus, but he felt a strong connection with him as well. They joked around and engaged in playful banter, but they could also talk about things on a much deeper level. Sirius found himself divulging things about himself, like his insecurities and how his family made him feel, that he never dreamed he could tell anyone. What was more, Remus really listened to him. Actually listened. No one had ever truly done that before, and Sirius found it extremely comforting. Not only did Remus listen, but told Sirius his secrets as well. This was also comforting to Sirius; it proved that Remus trusted him as much as he trusted Remus. Sirius marveled at the fact, out of everyone he had known his entire life, that this boy, whom he had known for a mere fortnight, was quickly becoming the most important person to him.

Aside from this constant heartache, Sirius felt his life was finally getting better.

That was, before the dreams started…

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"Bye, Sirius. See you at school tomorrow," said Remus.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Remus," said Sirius.

Sirius hung up the phone and placed it back on the hook. It was already 11:00; he and Remus had been talking for nearly two hours, and by male standards, that was an absurd amount of time to spend talking on the phone. Remus was turning Sirius in to a love-struck, hormonal, teenage girl. Nevertheless, Sirius was very much looking forward to seeing Remus tomorrow, even though he saw the boy practically every day. How had he gone head over heels for Remus so quickly?

Sirius stopped contemplating this and got ready to go to sleep. When he finished, he turned off the lights and jumped into bed. But as he lay there, his thoughts drifted right back to Remus. He kept those sweet visions in his head as he slept, but then Remus' face began to morph into the face of a boy he did not know. A boy with dark, brown hair and deep brown eyes; he seemed to be around Sirius' age. _FLASH!_ The same boy, his face a deathly white, hanging by his neck from a rope tied to the rafters of a cottage. _FLASH!_ A girl with curly brown hair laughing, her smile bright. _FLASH!_ An aging man, sitting in an armchair by a fire, whiskey glass held loosely in his hand. _FLASH!_ Twin beds with unmoving occupants, their faces pale and staring eyes blank, covered in torrents of blood. _FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!_ Image after image burned in his mind, like sped up film.

Sirius jolted awake, sitting upright so fast, it made him dizzy. He was breathing very fast and was covered in a clammy, cold sweat. Those images, he couldn't remember them, they were slipping away from him as fast as water through a strainer. They must have been terrible, though, to put him in that state. He shakily got out of bed, walked to the bathroom and filled a cup with water; he drank it down as though he'd been parched for days. He went back to his bed and stared up at the ceiling. It was only a nightmare; it's all over now.

That was where he was wrong. For the next four nights, he drifted off to sleep, only to be bombarded by images in varying degrees of grotesqueness. But the only difference these times were that the images began to stick in his memory more and more, until on the fourth night, each scene stood out crisp and clean in his mind. What was happening to him? An unwelcome answer began to intrude upon his denial…

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"Hey Moony, hand me a napkin, will you?" said James, a taunting quality to his voice. They were all of them seated at the end of a long lunch table in the cafeteria, talking and joking.

"I thought I told you, _Prongs_, to stop calling me by that ridiculous nickname," replied Remus.

"I rather like the name Moony though, it suits you," said Peter tantalizingly.

"Oh, shut-up, _Wormtail_," said Remus teasingly.

"I don't get it," said Sirius, confused.

"I don't get it either, Sirius," said Lily exasperatedly, "Honestly, those nicknames are ridiculous, I agree with Remus."

Seeing the perturbed expression on Sirius' face, James said, "When we were all in grade school, we had to do projects on a certain animal that the teacher assigned us. Well, we were messing around, like usual, and we just gave each other stupid names to go with our animals. My animal was a stag, Peter's was a rat, and Remus' was a wolf, hence the names Prongs, Wormtail, and Moony."

"Aaaawww, now I want one," said Sirius, faking a hurt expression.

"Well, maybe we should give you one," said James, ignoring Sirius' sarcasm, "after all, you're one of the pack now."

That statement really touched Sirius; he knew already that he could never find better friends than these.

"He didn't do the project, though," said Peter. He thought for a moment, then asked, " What's your favorite animal, Sirius?"

"I guess I've always been partial to dogs," offered Sirius.

Remus' face lit up. "I've got the perfect one. Padfoot."

"_Padfoot? _Where the hell did that come from, Moony?" said James.

"You know, dogs' feet are padded, that's how I got it. What, do you think it's stupid?"

"I love it," said Sirius. After all, Remus had come up with it.

"Well, that's settled then. My good gentlemen Sirius Black, you shall henceforth be referred to as Sir Padfoot," said James in a bad British accent. He then knighted Sirius with a plastic fork.

"Boys are so stupid," muttered Lily turning back to her novel.

The bell rang suddenly for the end of lunch and they all stood to leave. When Sirius began to walk out of the lunchroom, he felt a hand pull him back. He turned to see Remus looking slightly concerned. He said, "Can we talk for a moment?" Sirius nodded his agreement.

"It's just," began Remus hesitantly, "you've looked really tired these past few days. You also hardly ate anything for lunch, you're pale, and you have shadows under your eyes. You wanna tell me what's wrong?" There was slight worry in his eyes and his brow was furrowed.

Sirius, however, felt relieved for two reasons: one, he thought Remus was going to tell him that he had caught him staring at him (who knows what kind of a disaster that could've turned out to be) and two, he was dying to tell someone about those dreams, but had been too embarrassed. Remus wouldn't think him crazy, would he? He decided to take the chance.

"Okay, I'll tell, but you have to promise not to laugh," said Sirius warily.

"Scouts' honor," said Remus solemnly, even forming the boy-scout symbol with his hand.

"It's just," hesitated Sirius, "I've been having these _dreams_…"

"What kind of dreams?" inquired Remus. "Sex dreams?"

"No, I like those. These are more like nightmares. But they aren't ordinary nightmares. It's the same one repeating over and over again, these horrible images keep flashing through my head…"

Remus put a comforting hand on his shoulder. It made Sirius want to cry, though he didn't dare. Then, mastering himself to say what was really on his mind, he plunged on, "I think they're images of the Wellingtons. I saw David Wellington hanging from some rafters and then Rebecca and her brother in their beds covered in blood. What if… What if David Wellington is putting these pictures in my head, what if his ghost is trying to haunt me? Or am I just going crazy?" Sirius felt his eyes begin to water. Remus, sensing his fear, enveloped Sirius in his strong arms, telling him that he didn't think he was crazy at all. He pulled back, in Sirius' opinion, much too soon.

"How about we go to the library when school gets out? There are books there that talk about the murders and they even have some pictures. That way you can see for yourself if David Wellington's ghost is trying to pry into your dreams or if your mind is just playing tricks on you after Rosmerta told you the story," said Remus. Sirius nodded in agreement.

"C'mon, we'd better go or we'll be late for class," said Remus steering a shaken Sirius down the hall.

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Author's Note: Poor, poor Sirius. I'm afraid his encounters with the ghost are only just starting. Anyway, thanks for reading, please review, and next chapter should be up shortly 


	5. Confessing A Secret

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Note: I feel so bad for not updating for so long! I've been so busy: band festival, essay, lots and lots of homework, etc. Anyway, sorry for not updating sooner. But now its my spring break so I should have a generous amount of time to write, seeing as this is practically the first spring break in quite a few years where I'm not going anywhere (grrrrr!) and I need to fill the void. This was a really hard chapter to write, too. I tried really hard to make Sirius' quick realization more believable. Well, enjoy!

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After school let out, Sirius and Remus drove to the town library. They considered just going to the school library, but Ms. Pince staring at them as though they were mutilating her precious books by merely touching them didn't sound incredibly appealing. Remus' grandmother also worked at the town library.

Sirius was starting to feel foolish for his jumping to conclusions about the dreams and actually divulging these concerns to Remus.

"Hey Rem, I'm sorry for freaking out on you earlier, I don't even know what I was thinking. I'm just sleep deprived," said Sirius.

"No problem. Every one reacts differently to things like that, it doesn't make you crazy. It doesn't even sound that odd to me anyway. I've grown up with people claiming that they've seen ghosts at the Wellington place, so I'm kind of used to it," said Remus.

"But I didn't even see a ghost, it's just those dreams I've been having. It's probably nothing. Just Rosmerta's story, like you said."

"It probably is. Have you ever had trouble with nightmares before?"

"No, that's the thing. My whole life, I've hardly ever had nightmares, and even when I did, they never repeated. These dreams are so real, too, so much clearer than normal ones. I think I'm just jumping to conclusions. I never thought I'd find myself believing in ghosts, but it's like I've been waiting for something like this to happen ever since I moved here. I get this weird feeling at that house, like someone's watching me. And then those dreams started up and now I feel like I'm in some kind of horror movie or something. I've tried to write it off as something else but there's always that nagging idea at the back of my head telling me that the ghost every one thinks is haunting that place is after me. Maybe I'm just looking for an excuse to screw everything up like I normally do."

"You're not going to screw anything up, Sirius," said Remus reassuringly.

They parallel parked at the curb in front of the library, got out, and walked up the wide-set stairs to the door. When they entered, a kind-faced elderly woman at the front desk met them.

"Hi Grandma," said Remus, walking up to her and kissing her on the cheek.

"Hello, dear," she said. After Remus came away she spotted Sirius. "And who is this dashing, young man?"

"This is my friend, Sirius Black. He's from the family that bought the Wellington place," said Remus.

"It's nice to meet you, Sirius," she said with a smile, shaking his hand.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Mrs…" said Sirius.

"Oh, call me Grandma Cat. If you're a friend of Remus, there's no need to address me so formally," she said. Her eyes were the same color as Remus'. Sirius decided that he liked her a lot. In fact, he knew he already liked her more than his own grandparents. "So what can I do for you boys today? I know you didn't come all the way here just to see me!"

"Actually, Sirius was interested in the Wellington Manor's history. We thought maybe we could get some information on that," said Remus with a brief glance toward Sirius.

"Certainly, I'd be happy to get you some books. You boys go sit down and I'll bring them to you," said Grandma Cat, bustling off towards a tall bookshelf. Sirius and Remus sat down at a table.

"I like your grandma," said Sirius.

"She likes you, too. She was nowhere near that friendly when she first met James, but I think that was because she didn't like his hair," said Remus, smiling guiltily. Sirius laughed; James' hair could easily offend anyone.

"Here you go, boys," said Grandma Cat from behind a stack of old books, "I'll leave you two to look at these." She smiled at them and went back to her desk to work.

"The moment of truth," said Remus, taking the book on top of the pile. Sirius got up from across the table and sat down next to Remus, leaning close to him to peer at the text. He loved having an excuse to be so close to Remus. Sirius couldn't help but notice how good he smelled; like a mixture of chocolate and lavender.

They each skimmed the text, much of it a longer version of what Rosmerta already told Sirius. Then they reached the photographs…

Sirius felt like he couldn't breathe. Staring up at him out of an old black and white photograph were those same sad, deep brown eyes that had appeared so often in his dreams. The same dark brown, wavy hair and straight nose. The picture was labeled David Wellington, 1892. On the next page was a photo labeled Robert and Rebecca Smith, 1890, depicting the brother with his arm around his sister, a pretty girl with curly brown hair. They too, were the same people from his dreams.

"Close the book," demanded Sirius weakly. Remus looked at him with concerned eyes as he shut the tome.

"It's them, isn't it?" sighed Remus, placing an arm around Sirius' shoulder.

"I wanted so much to believe that it was just my imagination, but it just felt too strange all along. Those images in my dreams are identical to the photos in the book," said Sirius, pinching the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb. He could feel a massive headache coming on. "I don't want to go home. I don't want to go to sleep."

"Everything will be fine Sirius. I promise. I won't let anything happen to you," said Remus, quietly but forcefully. "Those people in those pictures might look like they're the same ones from your dreams, but it doesn't rule out the possibility that its just your imagination. Just give it some time, they might go away."

Sirius still wasn't completely reassured. He was dreading going to sleep that night, when his mind would be once again filled by gruesome images.

"Hey, we don't have much homework tonight so why don't we head over to Rosmerta's and get some coffee?" suggested Remus gently.

"Honestly, I'd love that," said Sirius, "And I wouldn't mind going over some of this with Rosmerta, she seemed pretty knowledgeable on the subject."

"She's probably more knowledgeable on that subject than most of the people in this town. She told me the whole story when I was eight; my mom got pretty pissed because she thought I was too young to listen to ghost stories. She even tried to boycott the place, but she didn't last too long without her daily cappuccino," said Remus, laughing quietly.

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Sirius parked the car in front of Rosmerta's and he and Remus walked inside, the bell over the door announcing their entrance. It was empty, save Rosmerta wiping off the tabletops; she looked up when the bell jingled.

"Hey there, boys!" she said. "It's nice to see you again Sirius! I see you've met my good friend Remus!"

"Yeah, I have. Sorry I haven't been back in awhile," said Sirius apologetically.

"Oh, its not a problem, hun, I expect you've been busy. I thought I scared you off after I told you the story of your house," said Rosmerta good-naturedly. "You two came at a bad time though, I was just closing up when you walked in." She hesitated a moment, then, "Why don't you both sit and have something to drink with me anyway, I'd love to here about what you've been up to."

Rosmerta brought in a pot of coffee and they all talked for a while about trivial things. Then Rosmerta asked how Sirius liked living in the Wellington Manor, and added jokingly if he'd seen the ghost yet. Sirius and Remus glanced uneasily at each other, but Sirius decided to tell her anyway. He recounted his dreams and the odd feelings he had of being watched.

Rosmerta listened raptly to his account. "It sounds like what happened with Ben Wellington. Obviously, he was descended from Nathaniel, that house was kept within the family until he died and his son decided he didn't want to live there. He was a character, Ben was. He never bothered to redecorate or keep up with the times, said it took away from the historical feel of the manor. Ben was always such a nice man, too; he'd come in here for coffee about twice a week and we'd talk. He's the one who taught me the whole history of that house, and he knew an awful lot about it, too. I remember when I was in my late teens I practically begged him to tell me the story of David and Rebecca. I was always such a sucker for tragic love stories and still am. That one's my favorite, though, and always will be. I'm getting a bit off topic, aren't I? Anyway, Ben also told me that when he was about 16 or 17, he started having dreams a lot like the ones that you said you were having. A little while later, he even started to see the ghost every so often; it was never menacing, he said, but it was very unsettling. He thought the ghost was trying to communicate something to him, maybe even who Rebecca's killer was. He had always assumed that it was Nathaniel, and he tried communicating to the ghost that he knew whom the murderer was. It must have worked, because after a while the ghost stopped showing himself and he never had any trouble with it for the rest of his life, when he died of a stroke at 82. I wouldn't worry about it Sirius, it'll most likely just go away after awhile."

They sat there for a short moment in silence, then Rosmerta said hesitantly, "I'm a big believer in the spirit world, honey, but you told me that you didn't believe in ghosts, so I wouldn't have thought that you'd assume it was the ghost so quickly. If you've never had problems with one before, what made you jump to those conclusions?"

Sirius sat there at a loss for words. He didn't tell Remus about The Incident earlier, and he certainly wasn't going to cave now. "Like I said, it was just a feeling," he said averting his eyes from hers.

"Whatever you say, hun," said Rosmerta with slight incredulity.

"Um, thanks Rosmerta, but it's getting late and I have to get home soon," said Sirius, leaving money on the table.

"This one's on the house," she said, handing him back his money. "You come again soon."

Sirius thanked her and made a quick exit with Remus trailing after him. Remus told him where his house was and they set off. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Remus spoke.

"Is there something you aren't telling me, Sirius?" asked Remus gently. "You looked really uncomfortable when Rosmerta asked you that question."

Looking briefly into Remus' beautiful amber orbs, Sirius felt compelled to tell him. Would he ever be able to keep one secret from Remus? Though it was against his better judgment to divulge his account of The Incident, he pulled the car over to the side of the road.

He took a moment to collect himself, breathing deeply. This was going to be incredibly difficult. He hadn't spoken of The Incident since it had happened and had gone through so much trouble to forget about it. He looked into Remus' eyes again and melted; he felt instantly calmed by their tranquility.

"You remember when I told you about that old brownstone my family and I lived in back in Boston?"

"Yeah," said Remus.

"Well, when I was ten years old, we moved into that place. It was hard on me because I missed my friends and there weren't any kids in the neighborhood that were my age. My parents seemed to make friends fast, though, and they invited a couple from next-door over for dinner one night and they brought their daughter, Susan. I was shocked that they had a daughter because I'd never seen her before; she was never outside. She looked as though she'd never been outside, anyway; she was so pale I thought she had some terminal illness or something. She was my age so I tried to make friends with her, but she wouldn't talk to me. The whole time she was at our house, I don't think I heard her say more than one word. She didn't smile or laugh either. And she had these eyes that really scared me and made me pity her at the same time; they were almost black and looked to sad and empty, like she was dead. When I saw her at school, she was always by herself and she never talked to anyone. She drew kind of disturbing pictures, too; they got her in trouble with the teacher a few times.

One day, when I was doing my homework at my desk, I looked out the window at Susan's house. I just about had a heart attack when I saw a boy looking at me through the window next-door. I calmed down, though, when he smiled at me and waved and I did the same back. He looked around my age and he was just as pale as Susan, who was probably his sister. It surprised me that he hadn't come over for dinner. I motioned at him to come outside and play but he mimed that he was sick. I figured that was why he hadn't come over. A few weeks went by and we'd greet each other from our separate windows everyday, and I'd always invite him to play but he'd always decline.

I was riding my bike outside once, when Susan's mother came home from work. I greeted her and asked what was wrong with her son, why he couldn't play. She laughed at me and said that she didn't have a son, that I was confusing her with someone else. That confused me; was she ashamed of him?

About a week later, I think it was, Susan stopped coming to school. Then her mother came over for drinks with my mother like she did every week, but she wasn't in her usual good mood. I wanted to know what was going on, so I listened at the door. She was talking to my mom about Susan. She said that after she found a disturbing picture that Susan had drawn of a dead boy, she confronted her about it. Susan told her that it was a ghost who lived in their house that kept contacting her. She also mentioned nightmares she kept having about the boy's death and how the boy started to show himself after she woke up from these dreams. Naturally, Susan's mother thought she was going crazy and had her committed to a mental hospital. I never saw her again after that.

Anyway, after I heard this, I was terrified. That boy I saw through the window was dead, a ghost. I was more scared at that moment than I'd ever been in my life. Later that night, I went to my parents crying, telling them that I'd seen the ghost. I think that's when I first started to really hate my parents; instead of comforting me, my mother scolded me for eavesdropping and my father told me it was stupid to think I'd seen a ghost. The next day, they took my to a psychiatrist, whom I went to see twice a week for a year so I could forget about the ghost. I put a blind on my window after that and never looked through it again. Whenever I was alone, I was always looking over my shoulder, expecting that boy to be there. That whole ordeal just screwed me up and I tried everything I could to forget it. But now I've come here and all these memories are overwhelming me, all the things I tried so hard to forget are coming back. I'm having the same type of dream that Susan did, Remus. That's why I know it's the ghost. It's only a matter of time now before I see it. God, I'm so scared."

Though Sirius had tried his best to hold back tears, the dam had broken and they were flowing freely down his face.

"You probably think I'm such a pussy," said Sirius, half laughing, half crying.

"Not at all. Not at all," said Remus quietly, leaning in to hug Sirius. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have even asked."

"No, its fine, I'm glad you did. I needed to get it off my chest. Seriously, I'm fine, don't worry," said Sirius when Remus pulled back. "I'll take you home now."

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Author's Note: Like I said before, this was a very difficult chapter to write and I'm not completely sure about it. I promise the rest will be better. Thanks so much for reading and I look forward to your feedback!


	6. Shoelaces And Gum

Disclaimer: Not mine.

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When Sirius got home that night, feeling too sick to eat, he went straight to his room and plunked himself down on the bed. All that he had learned and confessed that afternoon was spinning through his head, all the information and images blurring together so one was indecipherable from the next. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, in an effort to clear his head.

Lying there, a tingling sensation came over his skin and his heart quickened its pace. He could sense another presence in the room. David Wellington's presence.

Not daring to open his eyes, he spoke aloud to the room, "I know that you were in love with your servant Rebecca and I know that your father killed her. Everyone knows. There's nothing left to tell. Just go away and leave me alone. Please." He stated it plainly and clearly and waited with his eyes closed for a few more moments. Slowly, he felt the spirit leave the room. His breathing slowed, as did his heartbeat.

Perhaps Rosmerta had been right, maybe that was all he had to do. He thought gleefully of how he might not ever set eyes on the ghost at all, as he had dreaded he might for so long. Without moving, Sirius drifted off into the first dreamless sleep he had had for quite some time.

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The barn behind the manor had been undergoing reconstruction for a while, and it was now finally complete. Sirius was eager to see it; he hadn't been allowed out there before it was finished because it was in such disrepair that it was very dangerous.

Walking towards it across the sloping lawn, he watched as a couple horses were unloaded from a trailer and directed into the barn. They were beautiful; no doubt purebreds because his parents would never settle for anything less. One was a deep chestnut, the other a glossy black.

When Sirius approached the door, he was met by a very large, very hairy, man.

"Hello! You mus' be Sirius Black! It's nice ta meet ya, I'm Rubeus Hagrid, but ya can jus' call me Hagrid if ya like," said the giant. Sirius said hi and shook his hand; Sirius' hand was maybe a third the size of Hagrid's. When they took their hands away, Sirius' throbbed.

"I'm goin' ta be out here 'bout four times a week ta take care of the horses, the rest of the time there'll be other staff workin'," said Hagrid. Sirius and Hagrid talked for a while and Sirius found he really liked Hagrid's company. He found out that Hagrid worked odd jobs for different farms and such and lived in a small hut about three miles away.

"Ya sure are a right sight nicer than yer brother and yer parents, if ya don' mind my sayin' so," said Hagrid a bit hesitantly. Sirius shook his head fervently, agreeing that his parents were indeed rather unpleasant. "Yer parents kep' talkin' ta me like I had the IQ of a slug and yer brother kep' pesterin' me with dumb questions, which were also kinda rude, like 'How do you fit through doors?' and such. Little brat, if ya ask me."

"Well, if I'm around and you have any problems, just tell me and I'll forward it on to my parents so you don't have to deal with them too much," said Sirius.

"I'll sure keep that in mind," said Hagrid, patting Sirius on the shoulder and making his knees buckle slightly. "Everythin' should be set up sometime this afternoon if ya wanna go ridin' or summat. We've got some English and Western saddles, whatever's yer preference."

Sirius thanked him and went in the barn to have a look around. It appeared very neat and organized; there were tidy, rectangular bales of hay against one wall and to the right of the hay was the tack room. Down at the other side of the barn were six different stalls, each occupied by a different horse; the chestnut and black, and also a white, a gray, a bay and a medium sized chestnut pony.

"Yer dad told me the black one's yers," said Hagrid, walking up behind him. "His name's Hercules. Good name fer him, I think. He's a beauty, ain't he?"

He was indeed beautiful. Sirius entered Hercules' stall and stroked his neck. Sirius thought he was the most beautiful horse he'd ever seen.

"Ya know what? I could saddle him up right now if ya want an' ya can take him out fer a ride. He's real calm an' mellow," said Hagrid. Sirius nodded his consent and Hagrid went to the tack room to get a Western saddle for Sirius.

When Hercules was ready, Sirius rode him out and steered him around the perimeter of the woods. Sirius had always loved horses, and though he was around them at his aunt and uncle's house, he had always wanted some of his own. He was beginning to like living here more and more.

Suddenly, he spotted a structure about fifty yards into the woods, a slightly overgrown dirt path leading to it. The roof had caved in a couple spots and some sort of plant life had accumulated on its stone façade. There were two windows visible from Sirius' perspective and neither had glass, their wooden frames long since rotted.

There was no doubt in Sirius' mind that this was the cabin that Rebecca and her brother Robert had lived, and died, in. The cottage that David had hung himself in. Sirius thought someone must have torn it down after the horrible tragedies that had taken place within its walls, but apparently, no one had bothered.

Sirius turned his head quickly to the right of the cottage; something had rustled in the brush and Sirius could have sworn that he hear a low laugh emanate from the same spot. He then immediately snapped his attention back to Hercules, who was shaking his head and stomping at the ground. He patted his neck to calm him and looked back to the brush, but there was nothing there. He told himself he was only imagining things, but he couldn't shake the cold chill that spread through his body.

He took Hercules back to the barn, turning him over to the care of Hagrid, and exited quickly. Sirius didn't quite know what to do at the moment, but he sure as hell knew that he didn't want to be at the manor.

When he reached the house, he called Remus, James, Peter, and Lily. An hour later they all met in town and goofed around in the park. As soon as he was in their presence, Sirius felt immediately at ease and found himself completely forgetting the cottage.

He discovered that there truly was no limit to how juvenile James could be; when they spotted Lucius Malfoy with his girlfriend Narcissa making out on a bench, James wormed his way beneath the bench and tied Lucius' shoelaces together. They stood nearby, watching in anticipation for Lucius to stand and trip, but Lucius only shoved his tongue down Narcissa's throat a bit further, indicating that they were not leaving anytime soon. Growing impatient, Lily did the unthinkable; she crept up behind Narcissa, pulled a piece of chewing gum from her mouth, and gently but firmly placed it at the end of her long, blonde hair. When she came back she had a very satisfied smile on her face.

"She cheated off of me on our last American History test, I didn't do it without reason like you did James," said Lily in response to the stupefied looks on each of their faces. James' look of disbelief morphed into a wide grin almost alarmingly fast and he pulled his girlfriend in for a big kiss on the lips.

"Dear Lily-flower, none of my pranks are without reason. Besides, after what that son of a bitch Lucius did to Remus last year, he deserves everything I throw his way," said James.

"What did he do to Remus?" asked Sirius, looking back and forth between Remus, who was glaring at James, and James who was sheepishly averting his eyes.

However, they were saved the explanation when a loud yelp issued from Lucius, who had finally tripped from his shoelaces and was being helped up from the ground and having his shoelaces put back to normal by Narcissa. Lucius, face livid, spotted the group several yards away, laughing hysterically. They stopped laughing immediately, however, when Lucius started running towards them. Then, Narcissa emitted a disgusted, high-pitched squeal (she had discovered the gum) and Lucius doubled back to see what was wrong. By the time he'd gotten Narcissa to quit shrieking, the group was long gone.

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When Sirius got home that night, he ate dinner quickly before his parents got there and went up to his room to do his homework. He found he couldn't concentrate, however, and all he could do was think about Remus. He was so beautiful when the sun turned his hair gold and made his amber eyes sparkle. That afternoon, Sirius had almost kissed him approximately five times, it was amazing that Remus hadn't noticed.

Instead of working on his English essay, Sirius doodled hearts containing the words _Sirius and Remus_ and _SB and RL_. He considered including their middle initials, but he didn't know Remus' middle name and Sirius didn't think his middle name, Orion, looked very flattering or appropriate when he included it in his three-letter initials. Why was he drawing initials encased in hearts anyway? What was he, a thirteen-year-old girl? He wondered if he should quit before he started writing _Mr. and Mrs. Remus Lupin_ in the hearts as well.

He also wondered what Lucius did to Remus that was so horrible. Sirius fumed at the thought of Lucius hurting the man he loved…

Wait.

Stop.

Hold everything.

Sirius had just used the word _love_ when thinking about Remus. Did he really love him? Well, Remus is gorgeous, smart, funny, sexy, and kind. Sirius feels connected to him on a level that he's never been on with anyone else. It's even gotten to the point where he can't go without thinking about Remus for more than two minutes. Sirius would even die for him. He'd known the boy only several weeks and the feelings that he had for him were stronger than anything he'd ever felt for anyone. Shit.

"I'm in love with Remus Lupin. I'm in love with the most wonderful guy on the planet and I can't tell him how I feel. I'm pretty sure that constitutes as being royally fucked," Sirius announced to the wall.

He decided to turn in early, because he most certainly wouldn't be able to concentrate now with this startling new revelation. He wanted to be with Remus more than anything, but no matter how much more he fell in love with him, he couldn't break his resolve and confess his feelings. But maybe if Remus returned his feelings and they were discrete about it…

No, that wouldn't work. No matter how discrete people try to be in a small town, they always get found out. And he definitely couldn't risk his parents finding out; who knows what the hell they'd do if they discovered he liked guys.

The happiness that Sirius had felt upon realizing his true feelings for Remus was quickly dissolving in the harsh reality of the situation. Would anything ever work in his favor?

Sirius turned over on his side and was surprised to discover that his pillow was wet. He'd been crying and he hadn't even noticed. Nevertheless, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

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_FLASH!_ Rebecca and Robert, cold, lifeless, and bloody in their beds. _FLASH!_ David, kneeling on the cabin floor, screaming. _FLASH!_ David, face deathly pale, hanging from the rafters of the cabin. _FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!_

Sirius bolted upright, breathing heavily, cold sweat dripping down his face, the sheets plastered to his sweaty body.

The room felt oddly cold. Sirius peeled back his bed hangings slightly to reveal an open window. He thought that he had shut it before going to bed. He crept out of bed and gingerly stepped over to the window, casting nervous glances around the room as he went.

He held out his hand to close the window, but before he so much as touched it, it slammed back down. The thwack of wood on wood cut through the still night air like knives and made Sirius feel as though his heart was beating in his throat.

He backed away slowly from the window. Suddenly, a mist formed on one of the panes as though someone were breathing on it. A message, like it was scrawled on by a finger, was carved into the condensation.

_I've been waiting for you._

Sirius stood immobilized for a moment and then raced to the window and frantically wiped away the message.

What he saw next made his throat constrict. Through the window, he saw a glowing figure standing on the lawn. Though it was from a distance, there was no mistaking that face. It was David Wellington.

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Author's Note: I almost left the supernatural stuff in this chapter to only the cabin incident, but I couldn't resist scaring you all a bit more. Oh, and a cookie to those who got my joke about Sirius' initials! ;)


	7. David's Messages

Disclaimer: Not mine.

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After his sighting of the ghost, Sirius rushed back to bed and lay there, unmoving, eyes refusing to shut until the gray light of dawn spread throughout the room.

All day at school, Sirius had trouble keeping his eyelids from drooping. He had actually fallen asleep in Binns' class (which he was perfectly capable of doing even if he'd slept ten hours the night before) earning a reproving glare from Lily, although she gave him her notes to copy at the end of class anyway.

If his friends noticed anything wrong with him at all, they made no sign that they had, although Remus looked at him questioningly a few times throughout the day. When he met Remus' gaze, however, he only shook his head. Sirius wanted so much to tell him, but he didn't want to make Remus worry.

Perhaps the ghost wouldn't show himself again, or at least he hoped. But Sirius soon found that his wishful thinking was all in vain.

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Later that night, Sirius woke abruptly from yet another one of the same nightmares. His room, again, felt oddly cold and he knew that this time it wasn't from an open window.

He knew that the ghost was there. He shut his eyes and willed it to go away, but the odd chill still lingered. Sirius could hear a slight rustling, as though of clothing and a light creaking of floorboards as though someone were standing a few feet away. He was going to have to face it. He drew back his bed hangings as little as possible, allowing only enough space to see with one eye.

A softly glowing figure stood but ten feet away from the bed. Unlike the night before, the ghost seemed unaware of Sirius' presence. He stood in front of the full length, antique mirror in the corner of the room, critically examining his reflection, adjusting his tie, and smoothing the front of his jacket. Just then, as though he could sense an intruder, his eyes, in the mirror's reflection, locked with Sirius' one. They simply stared at each other for a few moments, until David turned right around and stared at Sirius directly. He then gave a small smile and vanished.

Even though he had gone, as had the chill, Sirius' heart still battered against his ribcage. He had been so close. It was one thing to see the spirit outside with a window separating them, but another completely to have a staring contest mere feet apart. Sirius had a feeling that this would not be their last encounter, and he was right.

Over the next few nights, Sirius witnessed the ghost doing different things each time he awoke from one of the nightmares. So far, Sirius had seen David brushing his hair in front of the mirror and reading a book in a chair across the room. When Thursday night arrived, Sirius wondered what would come next.

When he awoke from the usual gruesome nightmare, he could once again sense the ghost. He noticed it was significantly colder than before. He knew this must mean that David had drawn closer this time. He drew back the bed hangings slightly and peeked out. Nothing. He sighed and lay back down on his back. Then he noticed something in his peripheral vision that made his stomach clench. The ghost was lying in the bed right beside him.

Sirius couldn't breath, couldn't move. After a few moments, he mastered himself to turn his head a little to the side. The ghost seemed to be asleep, turned on his side and facing Sirius. Then his eyes snapped open, making Sirius jump slightly. He completely froze as David leaned close to his ear; Sirius could feel his breath like an icy breeze. The spirit whispered something.

"_I want to tell you my secret."_

Following his pronouncement, the ghost disappeared, taking the coldness, but leaving Sirius wide awake for the remainder of the night.

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"Sirius!"

Sirius awoke for the fourth time that day from Remus roughly shaking his shoulder.

"Nnngh," grumbled Sirius, sitting up in his chair.

"Sirius, I know you're tired, but you can't keep falling asleep in class. You've already got detention from McGonagall, I don't think you need one from Monroe, too," said Remus quietly.

"Crap, he didn't see me sleeping, did he?" said Sirius, more awake now.

"He looked over here a few seconds ago, that's why I woke you up. Plus, he's going to be explaining our project any minute now, and I don't think you want to miss that," said Remus.

"God damn it, the last thing I need right now is a fucking project," whined Sirius, burying his head in his hands.

"Sirius, tell me what's wrong. I haven't asked all week because I didn't want to pry, but you've been so tired every day, not to mention paranoid, and you failed the calculus quiz. If it's something to do with that ghost, Sirius, I want you to tell me," said Remus, concern etched in his handsome face.

Sirius opened his mouth to tell Remus what happened, but just then, Mr. Monroe got up from his desk and sauntered to the front of the class. With Sirius' current state, he thought it almost indecent how cheerful his teacher looked. Mr. Monroe stood there beaming at them and rubbing his hands together.

"Okay class, settle down, no more talking," said Mr. Monroe. The students gradually quieted and looked to the front of the class.

"Today we're discussing your project that will be due a month from today."

There was a collective groan from the class, Sirius the most audible out of all of them. A few students, such as Remus and Lily, looked excited.

"All of you will be paired with a partner of your choice, so I'll let you do that now, but do it quickly."

Following this statement, there was an instant squabbling amongst the students to pick their desired partner; James paired with Lily and Peter ventured to ask a pretty blonde girl named Megan, whom he'd had a crush on for quite some time, to work with him. It was nice to see the big smile on Peter's face when she accepted.

Sirius and Remus both blushed slightly when they turned to each other at the same time.

"So, you wanna work with me Moony?" said Sirius.

"Padfoot, I'd be honored," said Remus, bowing slightly.

"Well, good, that's settled then," said Sirius, feeling slightly awkward, but not knowing why. He felt very relieved when Mr. Monroe cleared his throat for the class' attention.

"Now that you've all partnered up, I want you to discuss together what you want to do your project on. You're all excellent students, so I'm going to give you free reign to research any American historical event you wish. It can be something big, like the Civil War, or it can be something smaller, like the Watergate scandal or Lincoln assassination. Something smaller than those, even, provided there's enough information on it. This is your chance to show me the quality of your research and presentation skills. Your requirements are a visual aid and a thirty-minute presentation in front of the class. Sometime this week, after I know who's working with whom, I'll post a schedule showing what day you'll present on. Your grade will be a reflection on how hard you've worked and the accuracy of the information. Are there any questions?" said Mr. Monroe, peering around the room at all of them. "No? Well then, I'll give you the remainder of the class to discuss your project with your partner."

With the opportunity to talk, the class erupted with noise, not all the conversations surrounding the upcoming project. Before Sirius and Remus could begin discussing what they were going to do, however, Mr. Monroe called them both up to his desk.

"Sirius, you're working with Remus, correct?" asked Mr. Monroe. Sirius nodded. "Good. Do either of you already have your heart set on a certain topic?" Sirius and Remus both shook their heads. "Well, if it doesn't bother you, Sirius, could I suggest that you research the murders and suicide at your manor? I know that I said you could choose your topic, and by all means you still can, but I just think it would be really cool for you to research something that happened at your house. I just moved here during the summer, and when I heard that story, I thought it was very interesting. That story is very important to this town, and I think we'd all benefit from learning more about it. So, what do you say? Do you want to do it?" said Mr. Monroe expectantly.

Sirius glanced at Remus, who just said, "It's up to you, Sirius."

Sirius thought for a moment, then turned to Mr. Monroe and said, "Sure, why not?"

"Excellent! I look forward to your presentation," said Mr. Monroe exuberantly. "Oh, and Sirius, I suggest you start going to bed a bit earlier, I can't have one of my best students sleeping during class," he added with a small smile and a wink. Sirius grinned back sheepishly and then followed Remus back to their desks.

Once they were seated, Sirius turned to Remus and said, "Well, this should be interesting." Remus nodded.

"So, are you going to tell me what's wrong?" asked Remus, once again looking concerned. Sirius then told Remus all about his experiences with the ghost, starting with the message on the window and ending with the message whispered into his ear by the ghost.

"That's why I'm so tired. It's impossible for me to go back to sleep after I've seen him. I'm not going to lie to you, Remus, I'm getting really freaked out. I'm completely dreading whatever's coming next," said Sirius, fear evident in his voice.

"I'm so sorry, Sirius. Maybe this project is a good thing for your situation, though. It'll give you an excuse to find out what the ghost wants to tell you and I think it'll make it easier, too. Just hang in there, everything's going to turn out fine. If there's anything I can do to help, just ask, and I'll be more than happy to do it," said Remus reassuringly.

"Actually…I really hate to ask…but do think you might be able to spend the night at my house tonight? I just don't know if I can be alone right now," said Sirius.

"Sure, Padfoot. I'd love to, it's really not a big deal," said Remus, "Besides, I've been dying to see the inside of that place for the longest time."

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	8. A Sleepover

Disclaimer: I don't own it, though I really wish I did.

Warnings: I got slightly carried away with dirty language. Hell, that's a bad habit with me even when I'm not writing.

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As soon as Sirius got home from school, he went and plunked himself down on the staircase to wait for Remus to arrive, who had gone home first to get some things. As he sat, he began to increasingly regret his decision to ask Remus to spend the night. What the hell had he been thinking? Where was Remus going to sleep, anyway? In his bed, right next to him? Oh, dear God.

Just then, the doorbell rang, interrupting his thoughts. Well, he'd just have to go with the flow. He strode over to the door and opened it to find Remus standing in front of him with a duffel bag. They greeted each other, Sirius taking Remus' bag when he stepped inside.

"You don't need to carry my bag for me, Sirius. You don't always have to be the perfect gentleman," teased Remus.

"Yeah, it's kind of a reflex now. My parents drilled manners into my head since I was old enough to walk and talk," said Sirius, carrying the bag anyway.

Before they could do anything else, however, Agnes came bustling in, red in the face and slightly sweaty.

"Oh, good, you already answered the door! I was worried that whoever rang had already left, that kitchen is miles away from the entrance hall and I was in the middle of cooking! Is this a friend of yours, Sirius?" asked Agnes, as though she only just noticed he was there.

"Yeah, Agnes, this Remus Lupin," said Sirius, "He's sleeping over tonight."

"Did your parents say that he could?" asked Agnes, tone suddenly sharp. Sirius had begun to notice lately that Agnes was becoming very fond of his parents, almost worshipped them, and she had many of the same small-minded notions that they had as well. Agnes was also very religious, and not in the good sense, which made Sirius get the urge to mess with her every now and then.

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," said Sirius.

"That will be enough with those curse words, young man!" scolded Agnes, the famous quote completely lost on her. Remus, however, caught it and chuckled lightly to himself.

"Agnes, I hardly ever see them anyway, it's not like I really had the opportunity to ask."

"Well, you at least need to tell me when you have friends over! You're lucky that I made extra food! And I'll need to prepare a guest room for him, too."

"You don't need to prepare a guest room, he's bunking with me."

"Then I'll make up a cot. It's not appropriate for boys your age to sleep in the same bed. We don't want to give Lucifer the chance to corrupt you," huffed Agnes. The first time that Sirius had heard Agnes say something along those lines, he thought that she must have been joking, but he later learned, she really wasn't. Remus seemed to become very uncomfortable at her statement. Sensing this, Sirius became rather angry.

"No need to worry, while we're fucking each other's brains out, we'll be quiet so we won't wake my parents," said Sirius sarcastically, making Remus' eyes grow to the size of dinner plates. Agnes looked as though she was perfectly capable of exploding.

"Don't you ever speak of such disgusting things in front of me ever again, Sirius Orion Black! I won't tolerate it!" With that she stomped back off to the kitchens.

"I can't believe you just said that," said Remus, apparently awed. He started to laugh.

"I really shouldn't say stuff like that to her, she means well. But sometimes, I just can't help myself," said Sirius, laughing, too.

"This place really is amazing," said Remus, changing the subject and gazing around the entrance hall. "It's more beautiful in here than I imagined."

"Would you care for the grand tour, Mr. Lupin?" said Sirius.

"Why, I would be most delighted, Mr. Black," replied Remus.

Sirius spent nearly an hour showing Remus the entire house, plus the pool, the gardens, and the barn. For now, he avoided the cabin.

They ended the tour when they reached Sirius' room. When they entered, they spotted the cot that Agnes had made up for Remus' use.

"I think you really worried her," said Remus.

"I feel sort of bad, I think I'm going to apologize to her later," said Sirius.

As though on cue, Agnes appeared in the doorway. "Dinner's ready in the dining room, boys."

"We'll be right down. And I'm sorry about what I said earlier," said Sirius sincerely.

"You'd better be," she said and then exited. The two boys looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Catching his breath, Sirius said, "Well, we'd better go eat. We shouldn't make her any more annoyed than what she is already." With that, they made their way to the dining room.

When they entered, Regulus was already seated and gnawing at a chicken leg in a manner reminiscent of a lion feasting on a zebra leg. It lessened Sirius' appetite considerably.

"Hi. You're Regulus, aren't you?" asked Remus, looking every bit as offended as Sirius at the sight of Regulus eating.

Instead of replying, Regulus turned to Sirius and asked, "What the hell is the school fag doing at our house?"

"Just shut up, Reg, you know I hate that word! How many times do I have to ask you not to use it?! It was offensive when you called Joe a fag and it's just as offensive to call Remus one. I want you to apologize," said Sirius, poking Regulus hard in the chest.

"What'll you do if I don't? Ground me? You're not mom. It's not like she'd make me apologize anyway, she hates queers just as much as I do. Besides, you didn't answer my question," said Regulus scathingly.

"Oh, so you're going to pretend you don't know?" said Remus in a mock offended tone, "After all those times we've made love, you're going to pretend it meant nothing to you? Oh, my heart is breaking!" Remus then melodramatically clutched at his chest.

"I'm getting the hell out of here. I've got to meet Lucius and Severus in a while, anyway," said Regulus shooting a venomous look at Remus and walking out.

"Good work, Rem. I don't think I've ever gotten rid of him that fast before," said Sirius, nodding approvingly.

"Sorry, but I can only take so many jibes at my sexuality. I don't normally do that to people I hardly know," said Remus, seeming a bit surprised at what he had done.

"Regulus does tend to have the ability to make people angry at him very quickly," said Sirius.

With all the annoying things that Agnes said and did, she more than made up for it with her cooking. Sirius and Remus ended up having a very enjoyable dinner of roast chicken and garlic mashed potatoes after Regulus left.

"You know, as much as I don't like Regulus, I really worry about him," said Sirius before taking a bite of chicken. "I don't want him getting too involved with that Death Eater crowd. It scares me."

"Well, of course, he's your brother, it's only natural to be a bit protective of him. I'm glad that my little sister Anna is only eight and I don't really need to worry about what sort of people she hangs out with yet. It still worries me, though. She's such a good kid, I would hate to see her fall in with the wrong group," said Remus. "I showed her a picture of you, by the way. She's always asking about you now. I think she's got a little crush on you."

Sirius laughed at that. "I can hardly expect her to be unaffected by my dashing good looks. After all, I'm quite the charmer with the ladies." At that, Remus punched him playfully in the arm.

"You're so full of yourself, Black!" said Remus.

"Oh, but that's why you love me!" said Sirius teasingly.

After that remark, Sirius thought he almost caught a glimmer of something behind Remus' eyes, but it was too fleeting to tell what it was. Sirius decided to change the subject.

"So, how about we go work on calculus for a bit, I need to get that down for my makeup quiz on Monday."

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Sirius put down his pencil, leaned back in his chair, and let out a big yawn.

"Tired?" asked Remus.

"Yeah," said Sirius.

"Well, I don't blame you, you've barely slept all week. Plus, we've been at this calculus for practically two hours and it's getting late. I'm actually getting sleepy myself, math tends to have that effect on me," said Remus, failing to stifle a huge yawn as well.

Remus stood up and walked to the bathroom, leaving Sirius to put away his calculus book and notebook. He then crossed the room to his dresser to undress and retrieve some pajamas. As he finished pulling his swim team t-shirt on, he saw Remus saunter back into the room wearing the same one. They looked at each other for a moment and then started to laugh.

"Wow, great minds really do think alike. I'm gonna go brush my teeth," said Sirius, passing Remus on his way out.

When he reentered his room, he found Remus already lying on his cot. Sirius wanted nothing more at that moment than to pounce on him and make out (and perhaps more than that) with him fiercely. However, he contained himself. He turned off the light and got into bed.

They lay in silence for a while. Sirius felt a rising panic at the prospect of seeing the ghost again. What if it turned up in his bed tonight? He didn't think he could handle that. Well, then there was only one solution to that, even though it made Sirius slightly embarrassed.

"Remus?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you mind…um…don't take this the wrong way, but…"

"Do you want me to sleep in your bed with you, Sirius?"

"Um…yeah."

Sirius heard Remus clambering out of bed and his feet padding across the floor until he felt the weight of another body lay down beside him. With another presence near him in the dark, he was forcibly reminded of last night's incident and panicked slightly. But he relaxed when he felt Remus' warmth instead of David's chill.

"For a straight guy, I'm astounded at how secure you are in your sexuality to invite me to sleep in the same bed as you. Most guys would be totally freaked out."

"What can I say, hardly anything phases me," said Sirius nonchalantly, even though he was lying through his teeth; Remus in bed with him was having a tremendous effect on him, not in the "I'm homophobic" way, but more along the lines of "I'm completely turned on" kind of way. If he wasn't careful about where certain body parts went, this could be a mess.

"I don't think I can stay awake much longer," said Remus, yawning, "If the ghost shows up, wake me up. G'night, Sirius."

"G'night, Remus," said Sirius quietly.

Remus was sound asleep within the next fifteen minutes, but Sirius was having much more difficulty in falling asleep. No matter how tired he was a certain…appendage… was perfectly wide-awake. Now he was feeling incredibly stupid for having Remus over. He tried to play it cool, but in the end his hormones took over just as they always did. Perfect. Just fan-fucking-tastic.

So he lay awake, and though it might sound creepy to some people, he occupied himself with watching Remus sleep. With the absence of drawn bed hangings and curtains on the windows, the light of the full moon flooded onto the bed. The pale light bathed Remus in an ethereal glow that made him look so beautifully angelic, so blissfully peaceful; in Sirius' opinion, he had never looked more stunning.

Lying there, he realized with brutal force that even though he was in bed with the love of his life, who was so close but yet so untouchable, they couldn't be together. It hit Sirius mercilessly like a load of bricks that he would never hold him, kiss him, make love to him…

The thought struck Sirius as so unbearably miserable that silent tears flowed from his eyes, dampening the pillow beneath his head. How much longer would he be able to keep this up?

He tentatively considered stroking Remus' golden hair, but he held back his hand. If Remus woke up, it would only make matters worse. With that, Sirius finally drifted off to sleep.

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_FLASH!_ Blood… _FLASH!_ Agonized screaming… _FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!_

"Sirius! Sirius, wake up!"

Sirius woke abruptly, sweating profusely, breathing fast and ragged. He felt a sight pressure on his chest and arm and looked to find Remus' hands there. Though he still felt dizzy and drawn, Remus' presence was highly comforting.

"It's okay, Sirius, I'm here. I won't let anything hurt you. Just take a deep breath and try to relax. I'll go get you a glass of water," said Remus, voice full of concern.

"No, wait, don't," said Sirius, finally catching his breath. He felt a familiar coldness descend upon the room. "He's here."

His eyes swept the room for the glowing figure. The only thing he could see out of place was a chair from his desk facing them at the foot of the bed. Then, Sirius felt Remus' breath hitch beside him.

David Wellington had appeared in the doorway. Neither Sirius nor Remus dared to move a muscle or even breath as they watched the ghost with rapt attention. David crossed the room toward the chair; his face was tear-streaked and he held a rope in his hands. He stepped upon the chair and fastened what appeared to be a noose to the light fixture. The next moment he placed the rope around his neck, kicked the chair away, and "died" right before their eyes. After he had completed the performance of his grisly suicide, the spirit vanished.

Sirius had never witnessed anything so horrible, and judging by the look on Remus' face, neither had he. Without speaking they lay back down in the bed, huddled together, fully awake, until dawn came.

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Author's Note: Nothing too terribly frightening I hope. I promise you'll all like the next chapter!


	9. Too Much To Bear

Disclaimer: All the wonderful characters (save a few) are JKR's.

Author's Note: I am so sorry that it took me so long to update! School has been a major bitch lately. Prom doesn't give me much time to write either. Anyway, I'll try not to take as long updating the next chapter. I hope the fact that this chapter is fairly long will help you forgive me :)

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Sirius opened his eyes blearily while last night's events came flooding back to him. He knew he had fallen back asleep around 7:00 am; the clock now read 10:03 am, so he had at least gotten an extra three hours worth of uninterrupted sleep.

He could hardly believe what he had seen the previous night. Sirius didn't think the ghost could do anything more horrible than act out his own suicide; he hoped desperately that nothing worse would follow it. He now felt even more remorse in having Remus stay over and putting him through that awful ordeal, though a very large but guilty part of Sirius was grateful that Remus had been there because he didn't know if he could've handled that encounter alone. Speaking of Remus…

Sirius looked to the other side of the bed, which was quite empty, as was the cot. Had Remus become so frightened that he had had to leave the manor? What if he blamed Sirius and didn't want to be friends anymore? If Remus wasn't his friend, he didn't know if he could stand it. The thought made Sirius feel incredibly lost and he felt tears spring to his eyes.

Then his bedroom door opened, making him jump. It was Remus, with damp hair and a towel around his waist; the sight made Sirius feel both relieved and rather hot. It was definitely not a bad thing to wake up to Remus half-naked and wet.

"Hey, you're awake. I couldn't fall back asleep, so when you did, I just got up. I hope you don't mind that I took a shower," said Remus.

"No, not at all. I was just a little worried 'cause you weren't here when I woke up. I thought you might have left," said Sirius, a bit sheepishly.

"Sirius, you don't ever have to worry about me leaving you alone after something like that happens. I wouldn't do that to you, I care about you too much," said Remus sincerely, making Sirius fall in love with him a little bit more. "Besides," he continued, "I thought it over a bit, and even though it was scary to see the ghost, it's even more exciting. I mean how many people have real encounters with ghosts like that? We didn't even put any effort into seeing it while there's ghost hunting nut bags on TV trying to take pictures of 'orbs' with their cameras. Just think how much this'll help our research project. We've basically got a first hand source if we interpret everything the ghost tries to tell us correctly."

"You're completely right," said Sirius, "I just wish I could be that optimistic about it. At least now I know I'm not hallucinating since you can see it, too. But I can't help thinking about that boy, that ghost, that haunted Susan until she cracked. Well, until her parents thought she'd cracked and then sent her to the loony bin. I think that I'm actually more afraid of my parents than the ghost. If they found out I was seeing spirits they'd ship me out right away. God, I hate them. I really, really need a vacation." He groaned and rubbed at his eyes.

"Well, I don't know about a vacation," said Remus, "but I called my mom earlier this morning and she wanted to know if you wanted to come over for dinner tonight. She really wants to meet you, so does my dad and sister. Hell, you can stay over, too. Get a good night's sleep for once, I know you need it."

"Sure, I'd love to. And my parents are coming back today from wherever the hell they were, so if we get out of here fast, we can miss them," said Sirius, feeling much better at the prospect of escaping the manor for a while. And even better, he got more time to spend with Remus! Just as long as they had separate beds.

"We can't go to my house till about 4:00, though. My mom always goes on a cleaning frenzy before someone comes over, and though I love her dearly, cleaning always turns her into some kind of bitch from hell. It's quite frightening, actually," said Remus, shuddering slightly.

"At least your mom cleans, mine hires help to do it for her. I doubt she's dusted anything in her entire, pampered life. In my opinion, _she's_ a bitch from hell," said Sirius disdainfully. "Anyway, I'm going to take a quick shower and then we'll go get some breakfast."

Once Sirius had showered and dressed, they made their way down to the kitchen, where Agnes was frying some eggs and Regulus was once again eating like he'd never been taught how.

When Agnes bustled off to the pantry Regulus asked scathingly, "So, last night, which of you was on bottom?"

"Shut up, Regulus. We didn't get much sleep last night so we're definitely not in the mood for your crap," said Sirius, sitting down heavily and shoveling some eggs onto his plate.

Remus, also taking a seat, said, "You know Sirius, the way you worded that didn't really help our case."

"That's because he's telling the truth. I know that you were fucking," said Regulus tauntingly.

"We were _studying_ you miserable little prick," said Sirius.

Regulus looked as though he were just about to make a retort when Agnes came back into the kitchen, looking daggers at Sirius.

"I told you not to use that disgusting language in front of me, didn't I?!" She was red in the face and beads of sweat glistened on her forehead. She looked rather dangerous. Trust her to only hear what he said and just turn a deaf ear toward Regulus; that seemed to happen quite a lot.

"Was that the door?" asked Remus, looking politely curious.

"Oh, your parents must be home, boys!" said Agnes, face lighting up as she hurried to greet them at the door.

"Why the hell are they home so early?! They're not supposed to be here till this afternoon! Let's get out of here, quick!" yelled Sirius, panic in his voice.

"Sirius, calm down! I only said that to stop Agnes from murdering you. But you're right, we should get out of here before she comes back," said Remus. With that, they rushed out of the dining room and into the ballroom, escaping into the garden.

"We'll come back later to get our stuff," said Sirius, Remus nodding his consent. They made their way to Sirius' car and drove off.

"Is Regulus always that horrible, or is it only 'cause I was there?" asked Remus.

"He's pretty much always that way. I don't want to sound full of myself, but I know he's always been jealous of me. I'm better looking and girls like me more. I've always had more girlfriends and prettier girlfriends than Regulus has, and I know that really gets to him," said Sirius, not mentioning the fact that he'd have gladly given Regulus any of girlfriends.

"Speaking of which, you wouldn't believe all the girls that are crushing on you. Just yesterday, I heard at least six girls talking about you in class," said Remus, and then asked almost hesitantly, "Have you given any thought to asking any of them out yet?"

"I'm still adjusting to the move right now and then there's the whole deal with the haunting, so I don't feel up to dating any girls at the moment," said Sirius, only partially lying.

Then, Remus' cell phone rang. After glancing at the caller ID, he answered.

"Hey, James," said Remus. Pause. "Perfect timing; we'll meet you there. Bye."

"What'd he want?" asked Sirius.

"He wants us to meet him at the theater to see some horror movie," replied Remus.

"A horror movie? Oh yeah, really perfect timing, my ass. Do you honestly want to sit through a horror flick after what happened last night?"

"Seriously, Sirius. What the hell else do have to do?"

"Good point. But I'll warn you, I'm not very good with scary movies to begin with. Strange time of day to see one, too. James must like to wet himself better in the morning than at night."

"James is very spontaneous. For as long as I've known him, he's gotten me to do some really weird things at really weird times with him. Once, we even tee-peed Snivellus' house at 3:00 in the afternoon. I never could figure out how he'd never caught us. Anyway, I'm not great with those movies either, but they're James' favorites so I've been dragged to a lot of them. It didn't sound like this one would be _too_ bad."

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"James, I hate you."

James only grinned at Sirius' comment. "You mean you really didn't like the part where the ghost possessed that chick and had her murder all those people? That's so classic, how could you not like that?"

"Let's just say I'm not very fond of ghost stories at the moment," muttered Sirius, catching Remus' eye.

Sirius could honestly say, though he'd felt completely traumatized and forcibly reminded of his own ghostly tormentor watching that film, it had almost been worth it just to have Remus clutch at him in terror. It would have been a nice distraction if they were a couple and they'd just been able to make out through the whole stupid movie. Sirius knew that he'd lose his self-control sometime soon, especially when circumstances such as these presented themselves.

"Wow, I didn't realize it was already so late," said Remus, checking his watch. "Let's just head over to my place, Sirius."

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After stopping at the manor to get their things (luckily, they were able to avoid Agnes) they pulled up the drive to Remus' house.

Sirius had only seen the outside of the house a few times, and he thought it quite charming. It was very reminiscent of a cottage but it was bigger with two stories. The front yard was lovely and obviously meticulously well cared for; there were all sorts of flowers clumped together in beds of earth and vines had been trained to snake their way up the front of the house.

"My mom loves to garden. She's actually won prizes for some of her flowers," Remus informed Sirius as they walked up the narrow cobblestone pathway to the front door. Before they could open it, however, a small girl with long brown hair rushed up behind Remus and hugged him around his legs.

"Guess what, Remus?" she asked enthusiastically. "Mommy made an apple pie for dessert tonight!"

"Cool, my favorite," said Remus as the girl let go of him. "Anna, this is my friend Sirius I told you about. Wanna say hi?"

As though she had just become aware of Sirius' presence, Anna became immediately shy and hid behind her older brother. She muttered a greeting.

Just then, the door opened to reveal a pretty, middle-aged woman of whom Remus was a spitting image; the same light golden brown hair, amber eyes, and ovular face structure. Her face split into a wide grin upon spotting Sirius.

"I thought I heard voices out here! You must be Sirius; I'm Remus' mom. You can call me Karen if you like. Well, don't just stand out here come in!" she said ushering the three of them inside. "I've heard so much about you from Remus, I'm so glad I finally get to meet you!"

As Sirius stepped inside the house, he was immediately hit by the smell of a baking pie. The inside of the house was nicely decorated and clean, but unpretentious. It felt very homey, a quality that made Sirius feel contented and at ease. As he looked around he heard Mrs. Lupin whispering to Remus behind him.

"He's so cute! Why haven't you asked him out yet?"

"I already told you, mom, he's straight."

Sirius, with his back turned to them, smiled a bit, not letting the two of them know that he had heard them. Remus was making it harder and harder to prevent Sirius from confessing his love for him and Sirius just hoped that he could make it through his time here without doing just that.

Remus showed Sirius to his room; it was half the size of Sirius' room, but most teenagers' rooms were a lot smaller than his anyway. It was neat and clean with a desk, a couch, a large bookcase, and a full size bed. It wouldn't appear to be very extraordinary to anyone else, but there was something just so _Remus_ about it that Sirius couldn't help but love it.

"You can bunk on the couch if you don't mind," said Remus gesturing towards it. Well, that was certainly a load off of Sirius' mind.

They sat in the room for a while and talked. Sirius found himself wishing that he could just stay here with Remus forever and not have to go back to his horrible family. Too bad life never worked out quite the way he wanted it to. Remus was just voicing some of his ideas of what the ghost was trying to tell Sirius when they heard the door.

"Oh, my dad must be home. I was wondering when he was going to get here; he normally gets off earlier. He probably arrested somebody," said Remus. Sirius was confused.

"Wait, I thought he owned the bookstore with your mom," said Sirius, perplexed.

"It's in both their names, and my dad still does some things at the store, but his full time job is a policeman," said Remus, walking out of his room with Sirius trailing behind.

When they reached the living room, they saw Remus' dad coming in from the entrance hall. Sirius didn't expect him to be so…big. He was probably around six foot, and though he wasn't fat, he was very muscular with a large, broad frame. His hair was graying and he had a large mustache. Remus had clearly gotten all of his physical traits from his mother. Sirius might have been timid to approach the man if it weren't for his smiling, jovial air.

"Hey there, Rem," said Mr. Lupin. His eyes darted to Sirius. "You didn't tell me you were having a friend over. He doesn't look familiar so then he must be the famous Sirius Black!" he said in his deep, gruff voice, extending his hand to shake Sirius'.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Lupin," said Sirius.

"Call me John, Mr. Lupin makes me feel old," he said. "Ooh, is that apple pie?" John made his way to the kitchen.

"You don't look a thing like your dad," said Sirius.

"Yeah, everyone tells me that. They say that I inherited everything from my mom, right down to my attraction to men," said Remus, laughingly. "My dad looks a bit intimidating to most people, but he's one of the nicest guys I know. When I told my parents I was gay, he accepted me right away, no questions asked and I don't think a lot of fathers would do that. If anything my mom had a harder time accepting it. I think she was a bit disappointed because she wanted me to get married and have kids, but she's perfectly fine now that I've gotten it across to her that I can still do all that. We told Anna, but she doesn't really understand very well. She asked me just yesterday why I don't have a girlfriend."

"You're lucky to have such a nice family. I wish mine cared about me like your family does about you," said Sirius in a slightly sad tone. Remus looked as though he was just about to say something consoling, but Karen's voice calling them for dinner interrupted him.

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Dinner was a boisterous affair. Remus' parents told Sirius lots of embarrassing stories about Remus' childhood, all of which made Remus slightly red in the face. Sirius was mostly enthralled with John's accounts of dangerous things he'd done while on duty, one of them dealt with an armed robbery. When they had all finished their pie, Karen shooed Sirius and Remus outside, hinting that Remus should show Sirius her prized rose bushes.

After a short walk around the back yard, Sirius and Remus collapsed onto a wooden swinging love seat.

"I like your parents a lot. Can I trade you?" joked Sirius.

"Do you really want them to tell embarrassing stories about you to your friends? I can't believe my mom told you about how I used to dress up in her clothes. You know, I'm surprised that she didn't guess I was a homo right then and there, if that's not a big clue, I don't know what is," laughed Remus.

They sat in silence for a while, gazing at the sunset. The pink, orange, and purple hues swathed Remus in a warm light that made his hair shimmer like golden thread. Remus looked so unbearably beautiful that the sight made Sirius' throat constrict. His will power was collapsing; the protective barrier that surrounded his emotions and desires was crumbling away into dust. His fear of what society and his family would think of him was finally overcome by his intense, raw feelings for Remus. He couldn't take not being with the person he loved most, no matter what the repercussions of that would be. He couldn't hide anymore, he had to tell him.

"Remus, there's something I need to tell you," said Sirius, voice quavering.

"Go ahead," said Remus concernedly.

"This is going to be difficult, I've only ever told one person before. I've kept this from you because I didn't want to take the risk, but I don't have the strength to keep it bottled up any longer. Shit, I don't think I can do this," said Sirius, eyes watering, voice threatening to break.

"You can tell me anything Sirius. I won't laugh at you, judge you, or tell anyone. You can trust me," said Remus firmly.

Sirius took a deep breath. He was going to say it before he lost his nerve completely. "I'm gay, Remus. I'm gay and I've hopelessly fallen for you. I care about you so much it hurts, but I promised myself that I'd never tell you because if my parents found out, they'd disown me. But now I've reached the point where I'd risk everything just to be with you. Please tell me that I didn't make a horrible mistake in telling you this," said Sirius desperately. There it was, everything was on the table. Except for the love thing, he didn't want to scare Remus away. Now he just had to wait for Remus' reply.

"You're not joking with me are you?" asked Remus somewhat disbelievingly.

"Remus, that's the last thing I could ever joke about," said Sirius sincerely.

"In that case, I feel exactly the same way," said Remus quietly. Sirius felt himself break into a huge smile.

"Really?" asked Sirius.

"Really"

Sirius let reality sink in for a moment. "So, what do we do now?"

"Well, you could kiss me," said Remus, voice thick with emotion.

They leaned in slowly toward one another until their lips met in a hesitant, tender kiss. Sirius felt as though he had died and gone to heaven. Fireworks erupted behind his eyes and his insides were dancing a violent tango. Kissing Remus was like nothing he had ever experienced; it was sheer bliss.

After their lips had become accustomed to each other, the kiss became hungrier and more needy. Sirius felt a fiery passion that had been fueled by pent-up desire for much too long. Remus' tongue met Sirius' and they grasped each other as though afraid the other might slip away.

"Hey, John! They're kissing, you owe me ten bucks!"

Sirius and Remus broke apart abruptly, looking toward the kitchen window. Karen smiled and waved at them.

"She really knows how to ruin a moment, huh?" said Remus, laughing. Sirius laughed right along with him. "Let's go to my room 'cause we obviously have no privacy here."

As they walked inside, John was handing Karen a ten dollar bill.

"We're just gonna go to bed mom, g'night," said Remus trying to slink past them.

"Wait just a second you two!" she called sharply. "I know what boys' hormones are like. Now, I know that if you want to have sex, there's not much I can do to stop you, but at least be safe and use a condom."

"_Mom!_ That was the first time we ever kissed, we're not moving to sex _that_ fast!" cried Remus indignantly.

"John, don't you have anything to say to them?" asked Karen, nudging her husband in the ribs.

"Sirius, if you get my boy pregnant, I want it understood that you'll be paying child support," said John.

"Sure thing," said Sirius, laughing as he followed Remus back to his room. He could hear Karen scolding John out in the kitchen.

Sirius lied down with Remus on his bed and let himself be enveloped in Remus' arms. It felt good to lie there like that, no one had ever really held him before. Exhaustion catching up with them both, they fell into a peaceful sleep together.

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Author's Note: I hope everyone liked this chapter. Again, sorry it took so long to write.


	10. On Pins and Needles

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I wish it was.

Author's Note: I'm so, so sorry that I've taken such a ridiculously long time to update. When May started, I had to devote all of my free time to a very large school project, and after that, I had exams. I've also been busy with a lot of different things this summer, so I didn't have any time to write. It really didn't help that I had a bad case of writer's block either. Again, I'm terribly sorry you all had to wait so long for this chapter. I really hope it's worth the wait!

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Sirius opened his eyes blearily and peered around a room that wasn't his own. Only once he became aware of a strong arm wrapped protectively across his waist and the wonderfully familiar scent of its owner did his whereabouts and last night's events flood back to him. Sirius couldn't help but grin stupidly into the pillow when he recalled the feel of Remus' lips upon his own.

He flipped over to his other side, carefully, so as not to wake the other boy, and gazed into Remus' peaceful sleeping face. All the pent up desire and hopeless longing Sirius had experienced while watching Remus sleep the other night was replaced by comfort, serenity, and an inexpressible happiness that made Sirius feel as though butterflies where fluttering in his abdomen. He leaned forward slightly to place a chaste kiss on Remus' lips.

Remus' eyes fluttered open and he grinned slightly. "I could definitely get used to waking up like that every morning. I'd take you over an alarm clock any day," mumbled Remus sleepily.

"Personally, I'd love to be your daily wake-up service, except I don't think your mom would be too keen on that idea," said Sirius, sleep evident in his voice also. "Mind if I go take a shower?"

"Sure, go ahead, first door on the right. I'm gonna sleep a bit longer," said Remus, closing his eyes again. Sirius, not capable of restraining himself now that they were together, kissed Remus once more before exiting the bedroom.

While he showered, he couldn't refrain from grinning slightly as he analyzed the previous evening. A nagging little voice in the back of his mind told him that he had acted out of pure weakness and would be reaping the consequences very soon. But this was drowned by a much louder voice that kept triumphantly screaming _I'm with Remus!_ over and over again like a broken record.

This bliss was instantly marred, however, as soon as Sirius pushed back the shower curtains and stepped out of the tub with a towel around his waist. The sudden sensation that he experienced was much like being kicked hard in the stomach. Feeling completely winded, he stared wide-eyed through the steam at the mirror.

Quite like the first message he had received from David, this new one was also etched in condensation, as though scrawled by a single finger. Unwillingly, Sirius stepped forward so as to read the words more clearly:

_You can't escape me._

Sirius continued to stare at the mirror, dumbfounded, as several more minutes crept by. He was only shaken from his trance by a resounding knock on the bathroom door, followed immediately by Remus' calm voice.

"Sirius, when you're done in there, come out to the kitchen. My mom made pancakes," he called.

"Okay, I'll be out in a bit," replied Sirius. He was surprised to hear his voice come out sounding dry and cracked.

"Sweetie, are you alright? You sound kind of funny," said Remus, his voice noticeably less calm now.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Go have some breakfast, I'll be out there in a minute," said Sirius, hastily clearing his throat. He did feel slightly more cheerful, however, upon hearing the pet name from Remus.

"Okay, if you're sure."

Sirius, still staring at the fading message on the mirror, listened to Remus' footsteps retreat in to the kitchen. He hated lying to the boy, but he didn't want to tell him until he had mulled it over by himself first.

Nobody but the ghost could have etched that message on the mirror, Sirius was sure of it. The door to the bathroom creaked loudly when opened and shut, and if someone had entered through it, he would certainly have heard. Even if he had somehow been so caught up in his own thoughts that he hadn't heard the door and someone had, in fact, entered, he sincerely doubted that anyone in this house, especially Remus, would be so cruel as to make the inscription.

Sirius was also equally sure that had he spotted a message like that in his own bathroom at home it would not be such a shocking occurrence, as he had grown accustomed to expecting things like this at the manor. No, what shocked Sirius the most was that David's spirit was so hell-bent on making contact with him that it had strayed from the property of the Wellington Manor to make sure that Sirius knew that it wouldn't leave him alone until Sirius fully understood what it was trying to tell him.

This troubled Sirius very much. He believed unquestionably that he would be rid of the ghost during the times he was off the manor's grounds. He recalled briefly the fully encompassing feeling of safety he had felt sleeping in Remus' arms, how he felt that as long as he was in Remus' house, the spirit couldn't touch him. How woefully wrong he had been about that. At least one thing was certain; he would never feel that sense of safety again if he didn't figure out whatever the hell it was that the damn ghost wanted him to figure out. Sirius also wondered, with another pang of misery, how it would be if he never figured out the ghost's secret and he was plagued by the spirit for the rest of his life. He had never, up until this moment, wanted so badly to discover the secret that David Wellington had kept hidden during his life and wanted to divulge now in his death.

Sirius eventually tore his eyes away from the mirror, the note written upon it now almost entirely faded. He changed into fresh clothes with slightly fumbling fingers and then made his way out to the kitchen, from which he could smell cooking sausages.

When he entered, he observed Remus sitting at the kitchen table, absorbed in an article from _The Wellington Daily Prophet_ and Karen tipping a sizzling pan of sausage links on to a plate.

"Good morning, Sirius! Sleep well?" said Karen kindly after she'd set the frying pan in the sink.

"Very well, thank you," said Sirius, smiling back at her as he sat down next to Remus, who was folding up the newspaper.

"I went in to check on you boys about five minutes after you'd gone to Remus' room, you know, just to make sure you two weren't doing anything…um…_inappropriate_. Well, I was so surprised, I don't think I've ever seen anyone fall asleep quite that fast before," said Karen conversationally as she started scrubbing out the pan. "I was going to move Sirius in to the guest room, but you both looked so peaceful where you were, I didn't have the heart to wake you. But that's the last time, I'm sorry. Sirius, I love having you here, but now that you and Remus are involved, I just can't let you sleep over here anymore. You can understand that, can't you? I mean, I'm sure your mother would feel the same."

At this last remark, Sirius snorted in to his orange juice. "That's an understatement. If my mother found out I was with Remus, let alone gay, she'd inform me of the enormous shame I'd brought upon our family, disown me and then go in to a state of permanent shock. I don't even want to imagine my father's reaction, which I'm guessing might be a bit more violent."

Karen looked scandalized. "What kind of people could do that to their own son? Personally, I can't even imagine a circumstance under which I could disown Remus!"

"What if I organized and carried out a mass genocide and blew up the entire state of Massachusetts?" responded Remus dryly.

"I'd still love you with all my heart," said Karen lightly, kissing Remus on his head and then heading to the door leading to the back yard. "I'm going to go water the plants and check that Anna hasn't wandered off into the woods again. If you two need anything, just holler."

The instant she closed the door, Remus said, "So, are you going to tell me what was going on earlier or am I going to have to pry it out of you?"

"You don't have to pry anything out of me, I was planning on telling you anyway," said Sirius defensively, somewhat taken aback by the abruptness of the question. He told Remus all about the threatening inscription on the mirror and his concerns about what it might mean.

"Well, I have heard of ghosts that latch on to people instead of a dwelling, so it's not completely unheard of," said Remus rationally, though Sirius could tell he was deeply unsettled by the occurrence. "But I think you're right, the only way to get rid of it is to find out what it wants. With any luck, we'll have it figured out by the time we have to present our research to the class. How 'bout we head over to the library after school tomorrow and get some research done, does that sound good?"

"Yeah, let's do that," said Sirius, pleased that Remus was able to take a rational view on the matter instead of panicking. It felt nice to Sirius that he had someone he could rely on.

After they finished with breakfast, Sirius helped Remus with the dishes. Once they completed the task, Sirius backed Remus against the sink and they started to kiss rather aggressively, Remus' hands wandering under Sirius' shirt and across his back, Sirius' hands moving through Remus' honey locks.

Remus pulled back after several breathless minutes and said, "Either my presence is making you exceptionally excited or your phone's on vibrate."

"What? Oh, right…" Sirius rummaged in his jeans' pocket until he withdrew his cell phone, which was, indeed, vibrating. He read the caller ID and snorted, but answered the phone, nevertheless. "What the hell do want Reg?"

"What's wrong with you? You're breathing like you just ran ten miles," said Regulus, sounding slightly curious.

"I had to run to get my phone," lied Sirius. Remus was biting his lip to keep from laughing.

"You'd better get your ass over here quick, mom's having a shit fit," said Regulus, who seemed thoroughly unconcerned. "You were supposed to be here half an hour ago to have your suit tailored for the family party two weeks from now."

"Fuck!" exclaimed Sirius, slapping himself on the forehead. "I completely forgot! Tell mom not to have an aneurism, I'll be there in five minutes." He hung up the phone, feeling extremely morose. "I've gotta go."

"This completely sucks," said Remus, looking put out, "I was looking forward to making out with you on the couch for the rest of the day."

"Yeah, me, too. I'll see you later. Tell your mom thanks for me," said Sirius, kissing Remus one last time before he collected his things and headed out the door.

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"Where the hell have you been?! I've told you over two weeks ago that our tailor was coming to the house today to get your suit ready for our party!" shrieked Rose Black from the top of the stairway the moment Sirius had set foot inside the entrance hall. Her eyes were bulging slightly in their sockets; the effect was somewhat unsettling.

"Exactly, so I've had over two weeks to forget the tailor was coming," said Sirius exasperatedly. "I was at a friend's house, calm down. It's not like I've been smoking weed all morning like dear Regulus has undoubtedly been doing."

Rose ignored the last remark and called, "Just come up to your room so Madam Malkin can take your measurements."

"Madam Malkin? What happened to Greg?" asked Sirius perplexedly as he joined his mother at the top of the staircase.

"I heard from my dear friend Sophia that Greg is a," she cringed at the next word as though she detested the very idea of it, "queer. I didn't think it prudent to subject my sons to that sort of trash."

Sirius didn't know quite how to respond to this so he simply fell silent. He had always liked Greg, he was very funny and kind, not to mention he made the best suits Sirius had ever owned. He marveled inwardly at how dim his mother actually was not to have picked up on Greg's homosexuality at the get go, seeing as he had the gayest lisp Sirius had ever heard. He could hardly believe that she had stooped so low as to fire him because of it, though, the stone-cold bitch. He wondered how much worse she would take it when, or if, she found out about his own sexual preference. He decided to put it from his mind. Sirius just hoped that this Madam Malkin was up to the task of withstanding his mother's constant nagging.

It turned out, however, she wasn't. Mrs. Black's steady flow of criticism was making Madam Malkin so nervous and twitchy that she kept accidentally poking Sirius with her pins. After a particularly painful jab on his leg, Sirius swore so loudly that a surprised Madam Malkin sent pins rolling all over across the floor. Not bothering to retrieve them all, she grabbed her things and left quickly once she had finished.

Once Madam Malkin and his mother had exited his room, Sirius started searching for and picking up the pins scattered across his floor. He thought that he had seen some go under his armoire. When he had managed to tug the heavy piece of furniture from the wall, however, he saw something that drove the pins clear from his mind.

Etched in to the polished dark surface of the wood, in the back on the top left-hand corner, was a pair of initials:

_D. N. W. _

_&_

_R. S. S._

_Forever_

As soon as Sirius had gotten over the initial shock of finding yet another unexpected inscription that day, he retrieved his digital camera from his desk. Once he had snapped a few photographs of the initials, he uploaded them to his laptop. He sent the pictures to Remus along with a hurriedly written explanation.

When his cell phone rang at 9:30 that night, Sirius knew it was Remus calling to talk about Sirius' discovery.

After they exchanged greetings, Remus said, "That's so amazing, I can't believe you found that! If that really was David who carved that into the wood, we know that he actually was in love with Rebecca. Do you think he's the one who wrote it?"

"Without a doubt," replied Sirius, "The way he forms his W's is a dead giveaway. Of course I'm comparing it with messages that no longer exist, so if we're going to introduce this in our presentation, we'll have to have more research to back it up."

"Definitely. We'll do some work on that after school tomorrow. Well, I have to go, my dad's calling me. I wish you were here to kiss me goodnight," said Remus quietly.

"Me too. I guess I'll just have to give you your goodnight kiss tomorrow instead. G'night, Rem," Sirius spoke in to the phone.

"G'night, Sirius," said Remus and then hung up.

As Sirius lay in bed, waiting for sleep to claim him, he wished vaguely that he had asked Remus what is middle name was and made a mental note to ask him the next day.

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Author's Note: So there you have it, I hope it was enjoyable! I'll have the next chapter up sometime next week.


	11. One Secret Kept, Another Found Out

Disclaimer: Characters are the property of the brilliant J. K. Rowling.

Author's Note: Okay, I didn't update within a week like I thought, but still, ya gotta admit it's quicker than the last one ;)

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_FLASH!_ Rebecca, pushing David against a wall and bringing her lips to meet his in a crushing kiss. _FLASH!_ A woman cowering in a corner while Nathaniel hit David hard across the face with the back of his hand, and then kicking him in the stomach as he fell bodily to the floor. _FLASH!_ David, Rebecca, and Robert conversing urgently in an empty stall in the barn. _FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!_

Sirius awoke abruptly, drenched in cold sweat, the images still crystal clear in his mind's eye. He knew what to expect next, and knew it would happen all too soon. Sure enough, a chill descended upon the room. He pulled back the hangings ever so slightly.

Sirius jumped and gasped. The spirit was not even a foot from him, close enough to reach out and touch. That, however, was not the only thing that shocked Sirius. David was clearly badly beaten; a livid bruise was forming around a swollen left eye, cuts on his handsome face slightly oozing blood, his shirt ripped and stained and his hair matted in places from congealed blood. Sirius knew a feeling of empathy and a sudden daring as he distended his hand to touch the ghost, but before he could reach it, it had vanished.

Sirius lay on his back for a while, trying to make sense of what he had seen. Pondering for what felt like a long time, he simply could not draw any conclusions. All of these short, clipped visions he had witnessed were so random he could not pull them into a bigger picture. He had, however, discovered some important things.

Nathaniel, from what Sirius could piece together of his vision and that night's appearance of the ghost, used to beat his son. In a previous dream, Sirius had also seen him with alcohol, and for that particular vision to present itself to Sirius, it must have been significant.

An image of his own father instantly swam into view, one of Orion Black yelling drunkenly at a ten-year-old Sirius about what a disappointment he was, how he wished Sirius had never been born, how Sirius didn't have proper family pride like his younger brother. Sirius did not know why he had suddenly thought of that particular incident, there had been so many others and it had happened so long ago, but perhaps it was because that was the first time his father had ever hit him. From then on, whenever his father was in a drunken rage, it was always Sirius he would come after. Sirius recalled one unfortunate incident when he had actually received a black eye and a cracked rib. Most of the time, though, he would get off with a few bruises or cuts, nothing too obvious (his father had found ways to hurt him without making it noticeable to others). Within the past year, Sirius had acquired a talent for avoiding his father whenever he could tell that Orion had been drinking. In fact, his last beating had been a few months ago, before they had even moved to Wellington. That was one of the things Sirius loved about living in the manor; he could avoid his family with extreme ease.

As for his mother and brother, Sirius doubted very much if his father had so much as laid a finger on either of them when intoxicated or otherwise; Sirius knew it was a ritual designated especially for him and his mother and brother knew nothing of it. The black eye and cracked rib had been explained away by his father as Sirius having gotten in to a fight with another boy, which had earned Sirius a month's grounding from his mother.

Shaking away thoughts of his father, Sirius directed his mind upon the ghost once more. Was this the reason that the ghost sought and plagued him, because the ghost sympathized with his predicament? Were these brutal beatings the secret that David had wanted to share with him? Somehow, Sirius didn't think so; there was no possible way that the spirit could have known about Sirius' own physical abuse, as he had never once had to endure it under this roof for David to witness. Sirius concluded it to be merely coincidental.

Then, a different image swam to the forefront of his mind; the passionate kiss shared by David and Rebecca. David had looked utterly surprised at being pushed into a wall and kissed hungrily by the pretty brunette. Was Rebecca usually shy by nature and unlikely to be so eager to have physical contact with David that the kiss surprised him so? Or perhaps it had been their first kiss; Sirius smiled slightly at the thought of how dumbfounded the expression on his own face would have been, had Remus kissed him abruptly without any warning their first time.

As Sirius' thoughts turned to Remus and he felt himself yearning to see him, he glanced at his clock; it read 5:23 am. It was a bit earlier than the time at which Sirius usually got up on school mornings, but he knew after what had just happened, he was too awake and far too preoccupied with his speculations to fall back asleep. With the extra time, Sirius took a hot bath, which calmed his nerves considerably. Once he was ready, he made his way to the dining room for breakfast.

Sirius had already worked his way through the majority of his eggs and toast as Regulus stumbled into the kitchen looking as though he'd gotten about a half an hour's worth of sleep; there were dark circles beneath his bloodshot eyes and his face was unusually pale.

"Morning, Reg," said Sirius, then feigning a tone of great surprise, "Holy shit, you're not wearing any black makeup! And there's not a whole bottle of gel in your hair! Dear God, you look almost as though you don't emerge from a coffin each night to prey on human blood!"

"Ha-ha-ha," mumbled Regulus mockingly, "I overslept actually, so I didn't have any time to do anything this morning."

"Listen, I need to get to school a little early this morning so you'll have to grab a piece of toast to take with you in the car, 'cause we have to leave now," said Sirius, putting on his leather jacket and picking up his school bag.

"We'll leave once I've had breakfast, you asshole," sneered Regulus.

"No, we're leaving now. Unless you'd rather I leave without you and then you could ask Agnes to drive you, which I don't think you'd like very much seeing as she's in a really bad mood this morning. Your choice," said Sirius, already knowing he had won the battle.

As Sirius drove off down the road, he looked quickly over at Regulus in the passenger's seat. "So last night, were you up late getting stoned with the 'Death Eaters' or were you screwing some unfortunate girl?"

"None of your business," said Regulus, and then smirking slightly, "You're only asking 'cause you're jealous that I'm gettin' some and you're still a dumb virgin."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not really jealous. I'd rather have sex with someone I love than a one-night stand with some desperate, high school slut with Chlamydia. Besides, if I wanted to, I could've slept with ten times the number of girls you have, and you know it." That shut Regulus up. But only momentarily.

"But you don't want to sleep with any of them, do you Sirius? You only want to screw someone with a dick," said Regulus, voice heavy with malice.

Sirius pulled over to the side of the road. "Get out," he said, not looking at his brother as he spluttered with indignation. "The school's only a quarter of a mile up the road so you won't even be late. I mean it, Reg, get out," said Sirius with an air of concrete finality. After Regulus slammed the car door, Sirius sped off towards Hogwarts High.

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Upon entering Flitwick's English classroom, Sirius saw that it was deserted but for one person reading at one of the tables: Remus. Thankful for the privacy, Sirius strode over to Remus.

"Good morning!" said Sirius brightly, emotions instantly soaring upon spotting the object of his affections.

"Morning, Sirius!" said Remus face also lighting up as he put his book down. Sirius pulled up a chair beside him.

"I do believe that I promised you a kiss last night," said Sirius, smiling mischievously.

"Yes you did. Mind if I cash in the rain check now?" said Remus playfully. Sirius answered him by pressing his lips to Remus' in a light, sweet kiss. Feeling this was not nearly enough to be satisfied with, Sirius leaned back in for another but was held back by Remus' hand on his chest.

"Sorry, Padfoot. As much as I'd like to continue what we started, it's not worth the risk of someone walking in on us. You said it yourself that this has to stay a secret," said Remus, looking every bit as put out as Sirius felt. Sirius was grateful for Remus' restraint, however, because not a moment later, Snape and Malfoy walked in with their usual sneers. Flitwick and the rest of the class followed shortly.

While Sirius and Remus could keep their newfound relationship a secret from everyone else, they simply could not hide the fact that they had become a couple from a strangely observant James.

During lunchtime, Sirius and Remus kept shooting each other covert glances as well as asking the other to pass things they really didn't need, all for the sake of a little extra skin-on-skin contact. These all went unnoticed, because James was animatedly recounting a rather amusing prank he had pulled on his cousin over the weekend and Lily and Peter were both listening avidly. However, Sirius very badly timed a subtle shifting of his arm under the table to rest his hand on Remus' leg just as James had finished reciting his story. James stared wide-eyed at Sirius' arm, then at Sirius' face, then at Remus. Something seemed to click in James' brain, because he stood up so suddenly that poor Peter nearly fell out of his chair in shock and Lily uttered a soft scream. James ignored them and simply continued to stare wide-eyed and now open-mouthed at the pair, pointing between them dramatically.

"I knew it!" said James so loudly that a few people behind him looked at him in surprise. When they had looked away, James said again much more quietly as he sat back down, "I knew it!"

"Know what, James?" asked Peter and Lily curiously.

"Yeah, what are you talking about, Jim?" asked Sirius, playing it cool, although he already had a pretty big hunch as to what James' outburst was about.

"You two finally made the moves on each other, that's what I'm talking about! About damn time, you two were being so thick, it was beginning to exhaust me! Congratulations!" exclaimed James with a triumphant air and a confident grin.

Sirius turned to Remus; they silently agreed that it was okay to at least be open with James, Peter, and Lily.

"Thanks, James. Yeah, we finally got together," conceded Sirius. While James still looked nothing short of exuberant, Peter and Lily each looked very unhappy. "You guys have a problem with it, don't you?" asked Sirius, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Oh, don't mind them, Padfoot," said James, "They're just sore 'cause they each just lost ten bucks. See, they thought you were straight, Sirius, but old Jamesy knew better so now he gets to go out and buy himself something nice with dear Lily-flower and Wormtail's money. Cough it up, suckers!" James gave Lily and Peter, who both looked sullen, a smug look and gestured for them both to get out their wallets.

"Why the hell is everyone placing bets on whether or not I'm a flamer and have the hots for Remus?!" asked Sirius exasperatedly. He looked around at Remus for support but found him lost in a fit of silent giggles with his head in his arms. "I can't be _that_ obvious, can I?"

"No, Padfoot, you're not obvious. I just have finely tuned gaydar," commented James once he had collected his money and Remus had recovered from his giggle fit. "So," he said, now turning to Remus, "our little Remmy's got himself his first boyfriend. I'm so proud, I didn't think this day would ever come!" At that comment, Remus playfully punched James in the arm.

"Yes, Remus is my boyfriend," sighed Sirius, gazing dreamily into Remus' eyes. He reveled in how good it felt to call Remus his boyfriend.

"And that's all fine and well, but if you two don't stop mentally undressing each other with your eyes, then I may just have to go puke up my lunch," said James.

"Oh, don't tease them, James! I think they're a gorgeous couple," said Lily, beaming at Sirius and Remus.

"I think it's great you guys are dating, too," said Peter with a sincere smile.

As Sirius smiled back at James, Lily, and Peter, he grasped Remus' hand under the table and thought about how lucky he was to have met them all.

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"Overall, I think we held out pretty well today, wouldn't you say?" said Remus as he and Sirius sat down at a table with their books in the library.

"Yeah, we didn't do too bad at all. Well, except for the whole incident at lunch. I don't mind them knowing, though. It certainly takes off a lot of extra pressure that we don't really need," said Sirius, pushing his silky, black hair from his gray eyes. He let out a tired sigh, finally feeling his lack of sleep starting to catch up to him.

"Another nighttime visit, Sirius?" asked Remus, reading the signs.

"Yeah," said Sirius. He wanted desperately to tell Remus of David's beatings, but that could bring up a whole can of worms dealing with his own abuse, which he wasn't quite ready to tell Remus about yet. He settled instead upon telling Remus of the kiss he had seen.

"Wow," said Remus, looking excited at the additional evidence. "That's really something, Sirius. If that was their first kiss, she acted very boldly for someone of her station in that time period. It's just lucky that David returned her feelings, or else she could've been punished pretty harshly for what she did."

"It's sad, isn't it?" said Sirius quietly. "They couldn't ever have really been together, could they?"

"We won't end up like them, Sirius," said Remus interpreting Sirius' comment correctly.

"I hope not," said Sirius, reaching over the table to take Remus' hand in his.


	12. A Roll in the Hay

Author's Note: I'm so, so, so sorry that I haven't updated in so long, that was terrible of me. I'm really going to try my hardest to keep to a more regular schedule, which I think will be easier now that I've pretty much figured out where exactly this train wreck is headed. Thanks to those who're still reading!

Also, I'm trying to keep this as historically accurate as possible, so bear with me on any little inconsistencies, but I'd also appreciate it if they were pointed out to me. Thanks!

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"Sirius, your friend's here!" Agnes shouted up the stairs.

Before she even finished her sentence, Sirius was already bounding down the stairs. He and Remus were to work on their project that day, among other things that were much more appealing to Sirius. There was work to be done, however, and their playtime would have to wait until later. He had been sitting up in his room for the past half hour waiting for Remus to get there, scolding himself for feeling jittery with anticipation. It was only Remus after all, not the Queen of England dropping by for a visit, though it might as well have been; they'd only been together for a week, but Sirius hated being away from Remus for very long and he always seemed to have a feeling of peaceful bliss settle over him whenever they were together.

If Agnes were more observant, she certainly would have noticed that the wide grins stretching across Sirius' and Remus' features upon seeing each other were a bit more than the usual smiles that friends share, but thankfully she was preoccupied with mopping the entrance hall. Sirius gestured for Remus to follow him up the stairs, so Remus gingerly crossed the glistening, wet marble and followed Sirius back to his room.

Once they were inside with the door closed securely behind them, Sirius pulled a slightly surprised Remus in to a heated kiss, with which he responded with an equal fervor. After about a minute or so, Remus gently pulled away and put a hand on Sirius' chest.

"As much as I'd like to continue, there are some school related matters to attend to first," said Remus, playfully and slightly out of breath.

"Screw homework, I haven't had you alone since Wednesday," said Sirius, who leaned in for another kiss, but was restrained by Remus' hand on his chest.

"Sirius, I know how you feel. Believe me. But you know if we get started now, it'll be all the more difficult to stop and work later. Besides, my mom brought me a book home from her store yesterday that I think you'll also find interesting."

Sirius highly doubted that he'd find the book more interesting than that sensitive looking spot on Remus' neck that he'd been about to make a move on, but decided to humor Remus anyway. Remus reached in to his bag and pulled it out. Sirius fought the sudden urge to knock it out of Remus' hand and then throw him down on the bed so that they could continue what they'd started.

"My mom only just got in a shipment of them. It's called _Murders of Massachusetts_ and it's by some guy who writes about historical murder cases. A lot of it is completely irrelevant, but a pretty big part is about the Wellington murder case. It's the best source I've come across so far, besides our…first hand one. I've already copied out all the worthwhile notes, but I thought you'd like to read it, too."

"Remus, have I ever told you that you are the most brilliant and beautiful person I've ever met?" asked Sirius, taking the book from Remus' grasp to leaf through it.

"Only every day," said Remus easily, though he was blushing a rather delicious shade of pink at Sirius' comments. This did not aid in Sirius' resolve to not devour him on the spot.

Sirius' breath hitched a little as he flipped to a page with a large black and white photograph of the crime scene; even though it was nowhere near as vivid as he'd seen in his dream, seeing it down on paper made it all the more real.

"Sorry, I probably should have told you that some of it's pretty graphic," said Remus sheepishly.

"Oh no, it's fine. It's just weird to see it in such a concrete way is all," said Sirius, closing the book. He decided to change the subject. "So, I thought it might be a good idea to take some pictures of the house and grounds. You know, just the significant places like my room and the cabin to put on our poster."

"Sounds good."

Sirius picked up his camera and snapped a few photos from different angles in his room.

"That should do it for in here," said Sirius, scanning the room, "since I've already got a couple of the engraved initials."

"Is there any other place in the house that you thought might be significant?" asked Remus.

"Not really. I couldn't find any relics from David's life in any of the other rooms in this wing. There could be something in that room down the hall, but none of us have been able to get it open yet and my parents weren't really too concerned with it to begin with. I thought there might be some worthwhile stuff in the attic, but there isn't that much that dates back later than the last owner, and what there is, nothing concerning David. I wonder what they did with all of his things?" said Sirius, brow furrowed.

"Maybe they wanted it out of the house, to like, lessen his presence or something," offered Remus.

"It wouldn't surprise me. People could be pretty superstitious back then. If that was their purpose for it, though, they did a really crappy job," said Sirius, laughing lightly. "Let's just head outside and take a few photos of the cabin."

Sirius grabbed a sweatshirt and slipped on his shoes before he led Remus back to the entrance hall where Agnes berated them for trekking across her clean floor with their dirty shoes. They managed to cut her off in the middle of her rant when they hurried through the front door and out in to the chilly autumn air. Once he was sure they wouldn't be spotted, Sirius slipped his hand in to Remus', earning him a small smile and a reassuring squeeze.

"Aren't you worried that your parents will see us?" asked Remus.

"Nah. They're gone. I don't know where, 'cause they never bother to tell me and it's not like I really care anyway. Must be a ways away, though, since I haven't seen them since Tuesday," said Sirius unconcernedly.

"I'm sorry, Sirius. Your parents obviously aren't aware of what an amazing son they have, otherwise they'd give you the love and attention that you deserve," said Remus with a surprising seriousness.

"I don't mind, really. If I'd spent more time with them, I probably would have turned out like them," said Sirius bitterly, then added, mostly to himself, "I'm not like them. I'm not one of them."

"Of course you're not. You're beautiful," said Remus, leaning in to kiss Sirius on the cheek, "inside and out."

Sirius couldn't think of a good enough response to that, so he merely squeezed Remus' hand in reply. They walked the rest of the way in a comfortable silence until they reached the cabin. Sirius had not been this close to it since he'd rode Hercules past it that first time, and he found its presence no less ominous. Sirius could have sworn he heard whispering coming from that direction, but wrote it off as the wind, even though he hadn't felt so much as a breeze since he'd come outside. From the alert look on Remus' face, Sirius could tell that he'd heard it as well. They exchanged a meaningful look as Sirius pulled out his camera.

After he'd taken a few snapshots of the cabin's façade, Sirius mustered up every last bit of his resolve to do what he needed to do. "Let's go inside," said Sirius, staring at the cottage as though he was about to walk in to a dragon's lair.

"What?" said Remus, clearly under the impression that he had not heard Sirius right.

"Let's go inside," repeated Sirius, this time with a little more determination. "If we're gonna do this thing right, then we need photos of the inside. I don't feel quite right showing our class the originals with their bodies bleeding out all over the bed, and since we haven't been able to find any others, we'll have to take them ourselves."

"Okay, if you're sure, then I'm sure. Let's go get it over with," said Remus, beginning their march to the door.

They stopped just short of the stone steps when Sirius said, "Stay close to me?"

"Doing otherwise never even crossed my mind, Sirius, don't worry," said Remus who wrapped a protective arm around Sirius' waist.

Together they took those last steps to the door, turned the rusty handle, and pushed until the door swung, creaking loudly, away from them. As they entered the one room cottage, they were immediately assaulted by the heavy odor of over a century's worth of dust, mold, decay, and something faintly metallic; the air was so thick and heavy it was nearly tangible. The smell, however, was not nearly quite so shocking as the sight that met their eyes.

It seemed that the only things removed from the room since the murders and suicide were the bodies. The beds appeared nearly identical to what they had been in Sirius' dream except that they were devoid of their occupants and the blood stains had become a crusty brown; on one of the beds, the sheets were ripped as though an animal had gotten hold of them while the blood was still slightly fresh. In the middle of the room lay a makeshift noose, the other half of it still tied to the rafters where it had been cut.

Sirius could feel Remus tighten his grip as his stomach churned. He shakily held up the camera to snap some photos, the flash almost obscene in the cabin's gloom. When he finished, Remus steered him out of the cottage and down the short dirt path. Only when they were out in the open again did either of them breathe easily.

"Who do you think were the last ones in that place?" asked Remus, voice weaker than usual.

"Probably whoever dragged David's body out of there," replied Sirius. "How could they just leave it that way?"

Remus didn't need to ask what Sirius meant. "Like you said before, they were superstitious about those things. They probably thought it was bad luck to go in there after all of those atrocities."

"I just really didn't expect that," said Sirius, feeling faintly lightheaded, "I don't really know what I expected to find going in there, but definitely not that."

"I know what you mean. It seems undignified," said Remus, who appeared to feel no better than Sirius.

They walked on in a contemplative silence until Sirius suddenly halted as they walked past the barn.

"Did you hear that?" asked Sirius, nodding his head in the direction of the side of the barn.

"No, but it's a barn, Sirius, I'm sure it's just one of the horses or something," said Remus, looking apprehensive nevertheless.

"I could have sworn that I heard someone giggling in there," said Sirius, staring at the barn as though it would give him a definitive answer at any moment as to what had made the noise.

"You don't think it's…him, do you?" asked Remus, as though he would rather it be a psychotic axe murderer.

"I'm sure it was girl," said Sirius.

"Let's just go in and look," said Remus.

"Ghost Rebecca has never been seen, has she?" asked Sirius, feeling like all he needed was another ghost to deal with.

"Only one way to find out," said Remus practically, leading the way in to the barn.

They tread quietly until they were in the same vicinity as they had been when they were stopped outside. They stood silent and still until they both heard a high-pitched girl's giggle emanate from the room on their left, where the hay was stored. Hoping with every fiber of his being that Ghost Rebecca was not waiting to reveal her presence to him on the other side of that door, Sirius strode over to it with Remus close behind him and reluctantly turned the handle.

Well, it certainly was not a ghost, but the actual scene before him almost made him wish it had been after all. Regulus was lying on top of a girl with blue hair who he was kissing enthusiastically; each was shirtless and the girl was on the verge of having her bra unclasped before Sirius loudly cleared his throat to announce his presence. The look on Regulus' face was almost funny enough for Sirius to reach for his camera as he jumped back from the girl as though scalded.

"Jesus Christ, Sirius, what the hell are you doing in here?!" demanded Regulus, his face almost purple with embarrassment.

"Taking a roll in the hay, are we?" asked Sirius, trying his hardest to keep a straight face as he watched the two scrambling to put their shirts back on.

"None of your business! Now get out!" shouted Regulus, who looked as though he would spontaneously combust at any moment.

"What's goin' on in here? Are the horses alrigh'?"

Sirius turned to see Hagrid run up behind them, looking worried and flustered. His worry almost immediately turned to anger when he spotted Regulus sitting in the hay with the blue-haired girl.

"Wha' do ya think yer doin'?! The horses hafta eat tha' yeh know!" fumed Hagrid, appearing even larger in his rage. He seemed to swell even more when he sniffed a few times and then spotted an empty pack of cigarettes lying a few inches from Regulus' foot. "An' smokin' in a barn?! Don' ya at leas' know better than tha'?! The whole thing coulda caugh' fire!"

Having witnessed enough of Hagrid's tirade, Sirius gently tugged on Remus' arm to lead him out of the stables.

"So, that was…interesting," said Remus, stifling a laugh.

"Wasn't exactly the first thing I expected to see either," said Sirius, suddenly feeling a bit more lighthearted than he had a little earlier. He turned to gaze at the house.

Remus seemed to sense it's meaning, as he said, "Let's get out of here. We could go get some dinner and see a movie."

"Remus Lupin, are you asking me on a date?" asked Sirius in voice like that of a southern society girl.

"I believe that I am. Do you accept?" asked Remus, taking Sirius' hand and planting a light kiss on it.

"I surely do, Mr. Lupin, but you'd better drop me off down the road so daddy won't try to get you with the shot gun."

"Your dad doesn't actually have a shot gun, does he?"

"No, Remus."

"Just thought I'd check."


End file.
